Barbie Lover’s Oasis

barbie1This is a little girl’s dream (and perhaps an adult’s nightmare). It’s the Barbie Dreamhouse hotel room that is available for rental at the Hilton Buenos Aires. You, too, can stay here for $179 a night with prices that rise to more like $569 during the peak periods. The room opened in September, after extensive consultations with the toymaker Mattel. It’s available year-round but it’s already fully booked until the start of 2015.

The room, at number 136, has a 32 inch television that runs non-stop with Barbie films, a marble bathroom, a walk-in wardrobe and all sorts of Barbie dolls and items in the room.

Guests actually go through a separate check-in specifically designed for kids before being sent in VIP-style up the private staircase to the room.


For parents who just can’t handle this much Barbie – they can book a normal adjoining room with a connecting door.

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Unique Travel in Oregon

caravans

Here is a unique idea in Portland Oregon. Kol and Deb Delman have created the Tiny House Hotel behind their home. Each of the hotels is 100ft-200ft and was developed when the couple bought a small plot of land next to their home in the popular Alberta Arts District.

Rates start at $125 a night and each home accommodates between 1 and 4 people. Each of the houses has electric heat, a bathroom and hot shower, a kitchen with a microwave and refrigerator and more. As owner Deb said,

“You actually get a lot more privacy than a typical hotel, because you have four walls all to yourself. But you also get that great sense of community and unique amenities not offered anywhere else.”

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The seven small houses are in a circle with a central area for eating and drinking.

As Deb explained, “As the owners, we meet and check in every guest and are available to answer questions like a personal concierge. We’ve also partnered with a local restaurant to provide room service until 2am. There’s also a BBQ, a fire pit, Adirondack chairs, a hammock, and lots of funky, locally made metal, stained glass, and recycled art decorating the compound. You can rent out the whole place. It sleeps 20 people total, and we’ve even hosted weddings.

There’s been such a huge interest in the one year we’ve been open that we’ve actually started Sunday tours and have gotten calls about opening other tiny house hotels.”

Hit Your Travel Destination at Just The Right Time

best places to beWe can’t always decide when we want to travel. Our plans are dictated by school schedules, office schedules and more. But, if you could pick the date that you wanted to travel – you should have this book under your arm when you plan. The Best Place To Be Today is filled with 365 suggestions for the best place to be on each date.

Because if you’re going to go all the way to the Galapagos Islands to see the sea lions, and you get there during the months when they aren’t around – you probably won’t be so pleased. So, as the book says, get there on March 27th.

The book includes a new adventure every day of the year, as compiled by Sarah Baxter. The best time to visit the Iguazu Falls, for instance, is in December when the falls are at their fullest, and you’ll want to go to the Pacific Coast beaches of Mexico and Central America in September or October since this is when as many as 200,000 turtles arrive to lay their eggs.


If you want to see the endangered giant pandas in China, get there in April, when the females are furtile for a few days. And to see the cherry blossoms in bloom in Japan, you’ll want to travel there in March.

As author Sarah Baxter says: “When you drill down into the calendar year, you can find the world’s seasonal secrets, like Vanuatu’s land-divers marking the start of the yam season or the brief window of opportunity to trek while listening to the sound of mating pandas. Organizing the planet this way helps you pick a destination for that June honeymoon or your October annual leave. You can even use it to inspire your whereabouts on your next birthday.”

Bucklist for Retirees Shows They are Ready to Roll

A recent survey asked 1000 retirees to discuss their ultimate bucket list of locations that they hope to hit before they die. Fidelity Worldwide Investment conducted the survey, finding the retirees are really ready for some adventure.

25% want to take a cruise in the Caribbean while 23% are interested in a scenic train trip across Europe. 20% want to go to the Grand Canyon – but they want to do so from a helicopter.

While everyone dreams, only 20% believe that they will be able to get everything done from their to-do list.

As Maike Currie, associate investment director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment said, “People no longer see hitting age 65, traditionally the so-called “retirement age”, in the same light as they did in the past. Many people over 65 are healthy, active and independent. As the survey’s findings show, rather than slowing down and taking it easy, today’s retirees plan to live life to the full. They are keen to travel the world and make the most of their golden years. In many ways 65 is the new 50.”

Here is the list that the survey found for retirees:

TOP BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
1. View Aurora Borealis, Norway (29%)

2. Go on a cruise in the Caribbean (25%)
3. Inter rail across Europe (23%)
4. Take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and the Las Vegas strip (20%)
5. Ride a gondola in Venice (18%)
6. Walk the Great Wall of China (18%)
7. Go on Route 66 road trip in US (18%)
8. See the Taj Mahal in India (17%)
9. Go on an African safari (17%)
10. Visit the pyramids in Egypt (15%)

Barn Campsite Offers Comfort in the Rough

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For families looking for an interesting and unique getaway, this just might be it. A new campsite in the Netherlands offers barn living made easy. That’s right. The Hayema Heerd campsite in Zuidhorn has several buildings for guests. These include the Hayloft, Straw Castle and two Straw Igloos.
Campsite owner Wil Hoogeboom explains, “From day one, everyone was delighted by the smell of straw and the wonderful atmosphere of the old farmhouse, with its large beams and trusses. This was the start of many beautiful romantic nights. We’ve had guests of all ages, from people in their twenties to those in their eighties. People really just step out of their everyday reality once inside.”

The Hayloft can welcome as many as 16 sleepers and the Igloo sleeps two. As Wil said about their wintertime guests, “We like the reactions in wintertime the most; sleeping in straw in wintertime is pleasantly warm.”

Certainly, these pictures make all of us want to give it a try.

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The Disabled Traveler Gets Ready for his Next Adventure

 

Caters News Agency picture
Caters News Agency picture

Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Grey are truly inspirational. Best friends, they have decided to be the first people to conquer the 500 mile trip between France and Spain using a non-motorized wheelchair. Hailing from Idaho, they will be the first to attempt the “French Way” route across the Pyrenees towards the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in Galicia.

They both believe that life is about facing challenges and they are ready for this one. Justin, known as the “Disabled Traveler” on his blog, teaches other people with disabilities how to travel the world.

As they said, ‘Our aim is to help others realize that life is too short and anyone really can achieve their own dreams if they just make that first move.’

Justin was finally diagnosed with Multifocal Acquired Motor Axonopathy (MAMA), a rare progressive autoimmune/neuromuscular disease which selectively targets muscles throughout the body and causes them to stop functioning.