2015 Travel Year In Review

Well, it's the last day of 2015, and we've had another amazing year. Click here for the 2014 recap.

Since my father's an Asian math nerd, according to his excel spreadsheet, I have:

1. Flown approximately 33,825 miles this year (vs. 51,422 last year)
2. Taken 23 flight segments (vs. 26 last year) with only 2 longer than 8 hours
3. Flown out of 14 airports (vs. 16 last year)
4. On 2 different airlines (vs. 6 last year)
5. Traveled to 4 foreign countries (vs. 6 last year)
6. Earned United Silver status

The biggest takeaways were that we really decided to stay "local" this year oftentimes driving instead of flying. Further, unlike 2013 and 2014, we only left the country a few times in 2015. Once was a spring break to Cancun. Then we had our annual trip to visit extended family Israel (stopping in Belgium on the way home). The other was our early Christmas trip to Costa Rica a few weeks ago.

On the hotel side, we have:

1. Stayed 52 nights in hotels this year
2. Across 20 different cities
3. In 14 unique hotel brands

Our most frequent brand was Westin (18 nights across Orlando, suburban Chicago, Cancun, Kansas City and Scottsdale). We re-qualified for Starwood Platinum status, and matched to Hyatt Diamond and Hilton Diamond statuses for 2016. And we didn't realize until just now that this year we went to see baseball games at the stadiums for each of the World Series teams, the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets.

 So as we close out the year, here's a photo snapshot of our favorite lapchild adventures this year.

Costa Rican Souvenirs

Photo Credit: NY Times

Before we left for our Costa Rican winter vacation, my father did some research. This was actually his third trip to the Central American country, but it was the first time for my mother and me. So he did what any protective father would do, go online and research what vaccinations and precautions we should take.

First, we needed Hepatitis A and Typhoid vaccinations. Fortunately, my annual pediatrician appointment in November coincided well so I was able to get my shots there as a part of my routine vaccination program.

My mother had her Hep A, but needed a Typhoid shot. And since my father's last Typhoid shot was in 2008, he needed another as well. And for these vaccines to work, they should be given at least 2 weeks prior to travel.

With over a month to go, my parents looked up Travel Vaccination clinics online and came across Passport Health. They had great Google Search Engine Optimization, but were very troublesome to schedule a convenient appointment time (even a month out). In addition to the $120 cost for the shot, it would also cost an additional $50 per person for a required "consultation" which we didn't need.

Then, on the morning of our scheduled appointment, they called in sick (ironic, huh?) and couldn't reschedule us for a few days. That inconvenience ended up being a blessing in disguise, as we soon found out that a nearby Walgreens had the vaccine in stock and could give us the shot without the onerous consultation fee. We just paid the retail price for the vaccine ($99/shot).

Now that we were protected from Hepatitis A and Typhoid, we needed some protection from the hoards of mosquitoes that plague this part of the world. Malaria wasn't a concern, but itchy bug bites can really be annoying.

So my father purchased some Natrapel Wipes on Amazon. As anyone who has used citronella sprays can tell you, they don't really work. The heavy chemical DEET is exceptionally effective, but can be dangerous, especially to toddlers.

That's why we went with Natrapel which uses Picaridin, instead of DEET, but just as effective at repelling bugs. They last 8 hours and get great reviews. They should still be used carefully and adults should apply them for their children, but we felt it was much safer than playing with DEET.

The first few days, my parents (at least my father) used the Natrapel wipes extensively on their arms and legs. And the mosquito bites were very minimal, usually during hours we were swimming prior to applying the wipes or after our evening showers when we washed off the repellent.

Then the final morning of our trip, we decided not to use the Natrapel wipes (since we'd just be having breakfast and heading to the airport). Well, when we arrived home, my father's arms looked like they were ravaged by those Costa Rican mosquitoes!

So I guess those wipes worked very well, but only when they're actually used.

Thanks, United for the 5 Upgrades!

Flight #122 - United Airlines 1446
Liberia (LIR) – Newark (EWR)
Friday, December 18, 2015 
Depart: 2:50PM / Arrive: 8:30PM 
Duration: 4hr 40min
Aircraft: Boeing 737 
Seat: 1B, 1E, 1F, 4A and 4B (Business)
Flown: 2,186 miles
Lifetime Miles: 224,098 miles

This is one of the few times I've flown with extended family. We all started on one single reservation with 2 of us having United Gold status (my father and my grandmother) while my mother and I having United Silver status and my aunt with no status whatsoever.

We originally booked this flight a few months ago on a great $266 fare they were having. For a roundtrip from Newark to Liberia that was a steal! So as our Costa Rican adventure came to a close, we starting preparing for our return home.

When we checked in online yesterday, we saw that there were only 5 people booked for Business Class out of a total 16 available seats. So we took our chances and put ourselves on the upgrade list. The seats themselves weren't the great lay-flat ones, but this would get us a free lunch on board instead of paying $9 for a slice of Costa Rican airport pizza.

The downside case would be that we'd have 5 separate reservations now, instead of being all in a single booking. Should there be any flight changes, there's a chance we'd each be rebooked on different flights, but given the weather didn't seem to be bad, we took those odds.

Probably because they had United status on their booking, my parents and my grandmother each cleared the upgrade list shortly after checking in last night. They were going to be sitting up front, but my aunt (no status) and me (United Silver, but not using it on this booking) were still on the Upgrade Waitlist. However, we were #1 and #2, respectively, with still another 5 big seats available. As you can see, we didn't stress out about it.



So this afternoon, we headed over to the airport like usual. When we arrived at the gate, the agent gave us 2 new tickets with our upgrade. Score!

Andaz Papagayo - Diamond Breakfast Benefit

One of the best benefits of Hyatt Diamond status is free breakfast. Not to be accurate, Diamond status members are supposed to get Club Lounge access where they serve complimentary breakfast.

But for hotels that don't have lounges, the restaurant breakfast is offered instead (a much better alternative!) and sometimes even free room service breakfast.

The Andaz breakfast is set up at the Rio Bhongo restaurant as a self-serve buffet with a made-to-order omelette station, though they also offered an a la carte menu as well. The sticker price for the buffet breakfast was $32/person plus the additional 10% service charge and 13% taxes. So definitely not cheap!



But thankfully, my mother landed Hyatt Diamond Status just before our stay. Now the 5 of us on the trip could all enjoy a hearty breakfast each morning, without ever seeing the bill. Here's what the breakfast spread looked like.

The Continental Breakfast Part

Not pictured, but my father's favorite part was the Bread Pudding of the Day. My father loves Bread Pudding.

The Hot Buffet

The hot food options rotated, but they usually had gallo pinto (rice & beans), plus eggs, plus some protein (bacon or sausage) and some vegetable.

And for the healthy guests that didn't want carbs and fats, they also had a great selection of fresh fruits and juices.

Now, since we know not everyone has Hyatt Diamond status or wants to pay $32+ per person for breakfast, the best option seemed to be the $12 Gallo Pinto item off the menu. It looked like a better presented sampling of the exact same items from the hot buffet section, but it would be a much better alternative if you wanted to save money.

Andaz Peninsula Papagayo - Part 3

One of the best parts about the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo was the abundance of activities (both free and paid) that you could engage in.

When we arrived, we were given the schedule of activities that week. My family definitely took advantage of several that really made our trip more memorable.

We obviously didn't get to try all the activities, but I wanted to highlight a few of them that we did elect to do.

1. Paddle Boarding (Free)
Paddle Boarding was one of the activities my parents did while I was having a blast in the Cambi Kid's Club. Neither of them had ever attempted to paddle board, so this was a fun learning experience for both of them. Down by the Andaz beach (which isn't really as amazing as you'd hope), they had an outsourced staff who would get you set up with free non-motorized activities (kayaks and paddle boards) but would also set you up with jet skis (for a charge).

My mother went first so my father could snap a few photos. She suited up in her life jacket and went into the water.

After a quick intro lesson from the guide (~2 minutes), she was ready to head out.

Before you knew it, my mother was about 100 feet out and drifting into the beautiful Culebra Bay. She was a natural, keeping her balance the entire time, though there were some near falls when the jet skis went by. Unfortunately, my father's short stature low center of gravity didn't help him as much as he hoped. He went down a few times, which made my mother pretty happy.

2. Happy Hour at Chao Pescao
From 4:30PM-5:30PM on most (but not all nights), the Andaz had Happy Hour at their tapas bar, Chao Pescao. All drinks were half price ($6-7) and their mixologist was pretty amazing. As you can see, I came to play hard. I just discovered a drink called the Shirley Temple and I was ready to have a good time, so I wore my party dress.

The bar was an open air structure, with plenty of indoor seating, but there was also a balcony area with couches and high tables as well. The indoor seats had the benefit of the ceiling fans circulating the air. Unfortunately, the outdoor seats (at least that night) didn't have any breeze so we were pretty sweaty from the humid, hot weather.

We shared our big couch seating area with another family and ordered a delicious round of drinks

As you can see, the drinks were as pretty to look at as they were tasty to drink.

This is a photo of me when asked how many drinks my father had.

3. Mojito Mixology Class ($15/person)
For a modest fee of $15/person, you could learn how to make fun mixed drinks. The price is actually well worth the experience, because you're also drinking as you're learning, so it's kind of like a private happy hour.  When we RSVP'ed, there were only 2 spots left. However, my parents were the only two that showed up among the class of 6. So my aunt decided to join them as well.

We met at 4PM at the Ostra Restaurant where we used the restaurant's bar before they opened for dinner at 6PM.

As you can see, they had already prepared many of the ingredients we'd need to make our masterpieces.

Our teacher was great at explaining the basic tools we'd need to use, plus some techniques on how to muddle, mix and strain.

 My father went first and tried to make a strawberry mojito.

Then my mother gave it a shot as well and came up with a pretty tasty drink with a nice blackberry garnish.

I wasn't there to sample their drinks, but they came back pretty tipsy and smiling, so I have to imagine these drinks they made hit the spot.

 

4. Forest Walk
At 8AM Thursday morning, my family dropped me off at Cambi Kid's Club after breakfast and head over to the Lobby to meet the rest of the group that we'd be doing the 1 hour Forest Walk with. We were introduced to our guide Manfred and entered into the woods behind the resort.

Some of the guests were well prepared (i.e. had applied bug spray) and then there was my mother. For some reason, she didn't want to put on bug spray. Big mistake! Nevertheless, she borrowed some Off! from the guide and continued onward.

Manfred explained about the different types of plants in the area, what animals were local to the peninsula and how the ancient local inhabitants lived in these very woods before the resort companies leased the land from the Costa Rican government to build the Four Seasons and the Andaz.

We even saw some pottery from the native people that inhabited the area years ago.

The best part was backward repelling down the steep part of the mountain using a rope. It wasn't anything that Bear Grylls would be proud of, but it was good fun for my family.