“He’s making a list, checking it twice…” This is something that every traveler should be doing. As we head into the Christmas season, it is certainly prime travel time. Everyone is travelling somewhere, even if it is just down the road a ways. I have put together a list, of what I hope are, helpful travel tips.

Sure, some of them may be common sense, but a little reminder never hurts!

 

Take clothes that you can wear a few days at a time. Pack neutral, classic pieces such as shirts, slacks and shoes that can be turned into multiple outfits. This can lower the amount of items that you carry for your trip. Talking to your travel agent can let you know if there are any dress codes. This is particularly useful when going to a resort or setting sail on a cruise.

Pack dark clothes. By keeping your wardrobe on the darker side, you will more easily hide dirt and debris, common components of travel. If you feel that dark colours are too dreary, you could bring lighter accessories to add to your look.

Put your personal information on a label inside your bags. Include your name, phone number and address. If the outside luggage tag is lost, along with your luggage, the inside tag could get the bag back to you.

When packing your luggage, instead of folding your clothes, neatly roll them up. By doing this, you save a ton of room for more necessities. When you get to your destination, simply unroll and fold them if you like. This, surprisingly, can help you reduce the number of suitcases you need to bring with you. I have heard of this being used by multiple people, and that it works great.. I really need to remember this one!

When travelling with children…

Let your children know about the security procedures at the airport. Explain what they will go through when they reach security. Stay as close as you possibly can to them. If possible, an adult should go through first, allowing the child(ren) to see that it isn’t frightening.

Make sure your children have some form of identification on them. We always think it will never happen to me.. but you just never know, and this is one time where better safe than sorry is so true. Before leaving home, you can make up little cards (think the size of your provincial i.d.). These should have the child’s picture, their name, height, weight, phone number, the resort that your family is staying at, etc… Whatever information you think will help, make sure to have it on there. Remember, these cards are to help the child find their way back to the resort, either by themselves, or with the help of local authorities.

Children should also have a small amount of local currency. This way, if you do head off resort and they get separated, they have some money to use a pay phone.

Make sure you have a current photo of each child that you are travelling with. Each photo should have their name, age, height and weight listed on the back. This will help if you need to contact local authorities.

Before your departure…

When travelling out of your home country, make sure you leave with, at least, some of the currency for the country you will be visiting. You may not be able to immediately exchange any of your money, and you do not want to be left stranded. Your bank will be able to help you with currency exchange.

Prior to departure, make sure that different members of your family, and even some of your friends have your itineraries. Just in case, it is always good to leave full trip details with a couple of different people. These details include hotel/resort name, phone number, address, dates that you will be travelling, airline name and flight numbers, full itineraries.

Your flight can be more comfortable if you book the specific seats that you want. Many times you can pick the specific area or seat on the plane that you want, however, sometimes this is not possible. When speaking with your Travel Agent, make sure to talk to them about booking specific seats.

When flying on a plane, you should plan ahead because an airline won’t always be able to meet your basic needs, even when the flight lasts for many hours. Travel with your own blanket, pillow and entertainment if you believe that you may need them. Make sure to check with your travel agent about the ability to bring these items onto your flight.

To get the most enjoyment while vacationing, make sure to take projected weather conditions into consideration. Be aware of typical weather conditions at your destination and plan accordingly. If the weather is not what you expect, it can completely ruin your carefully planned vacation.

Before traveling to another country, purchase a travel adapter for your electronics. If you wait and then end up purchasing an adapter from the airport or hotel, you can expect to pay double or even triple the normal price.

If, to get to your cruise travel port, you need to drive your car into a city, consider arriving the day before. Your travel agent will be able to find you a great hotel and parking for your vehicle for the length of your cruise.

Now, as I have said, some of these (maybe all) are common sense, but a little reminder never hurts. Hopefully your Holiday trips are made a little easier using these helpful tips!

 

We travel for so many reasons. Whether it is to see the sights, visit and learn about a new culture, for business, or any other reason, we are all around the globe. With travelling comes a degree of fear of safety, and with everything that has been happening around the world, that fear is quite reasonable.

I was reading an article the other day that was all about the “duty of care” for a travel agent and their clients. This article really had me thinking about the amount of information that is out there, and how fast it can come out.

Now, I do believe that it is the duty of the travel agent to inform the client of any types of travel warnings that are happening (if any) for where they are travelling to. However, I also believe that the client needs to keep an eye themselves.

You see, for us travel agents, our “duty of care” is from the time you contact us until you have returned home from your trip. As an agent, there are things that I do to ensure that you are aware of any travel warnings.

First, when you initially contact me to discuss your trip, I will search for your destination. I use websites like, https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories. This is the Canadian Government travel site, it is a wealth of information for all Canadians who are looking to travel. I also read through the resources (magazines, articles, blogs, newsletters) that travel agents receive. These all can include things that are happening at the destination, or in the country your destination is located.

As we wait for your trip dates, I will continue to check these sites and articles, you never know what could happen. However, this is where I also ask my clients to be aware and vigilant. I am only human after all, and I may miss something. On all invoices that I send out, you can find either the Canadian Government site or the U.S. Government site. This way you have the website needed to keep an eye out for warnings and even find the documents needed for travel. Again, this is something that I watch carefully, but I do urge my clients to be aware,

Second, prior to 72 hours passing after booking, I ensure that you are well informed and have purchased the proper travel insurance. With the proper insurance, if a travel warning/advisory were to come up for your destination, you could very well be refunded for your trip. I cannot stress enough the importance of proper travel insurance coverage. There are so many insurance companies and packages available, and they are not all the same.

 

Third, once my clients have booked, we will have another personal safety talk. Usually this just involves the basics. For example, keeping your money safe, staying away from certain areas at night, whatever the case may be.. Every destination in the world has some form of warning, usually this is something that is minor in comparison, to say the Paris riots for example. But, they are all worth a discussion about. This is also another opportunity for me to go over any current news that is happening in the destination.

In conclusion, I work hard to ensure that my clients have everything they need to make an informed decision on the safety of a destination. But, I do urge all of my clients (potential and current) to visit their Government websites and see the travel warnings that may be on there.

The Canadian Government: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories

The United States Government: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/ 

Both links open in a new window.

 

Old world charm meets today’s savvy visitors and shoppers. Let’s take a look at some incredibly beautiful markets to visit during the Christmas season.

 

Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin, Germany

     While you could visit a different Berlin market for all 12 days of Christmas, it seems, that if you can only visit one, make sure it is Gendarmenmarkt. The general consensus is, this market is the top of the top in Berlin.

     These markets, including the Gendarmenmarkt, make Berlin a very popular destination during the Festive season.

While you are shopping in the vast array of craft tents, you can enjoy delicious sausages and mulled wine. An added bonus for you to enjoy… the nightly concerts. These range from choral to jazz, and do not include off key caroles.

Winter Wonders, Brussels, Belgium

     Welcome to a winter wonderland festival and Christmas market.

     Winter Wonders begins on November 30th and runs until January 6th. Here you will find over 200 chalets serving mulled wine, Belgium beer, and waffles, ice skating, a Ferris wheel, light shows, and an incredibly large Christmas Tree. This beautiful festival and market is spread out across the Bourse, Place de la Monnaie, Grand Place, Place Sainte Catherine, and Marche aux Poissons.

A wonderful thing to take part in? If you are new to the Winter Wonders market, or just find yourself overwhelmed, take part in their guided tours, these are conducted in English.

Two words of advice… hot chocolate. You will be wanting lots of hot chocolate to kepp warm!

Advent in Zagreb, Croatia

     Attractions include an ice rink, ice sculpture carving (done live), street food and pop-up bars, and even some outdoor music stages. You will also find a dedicated area for “fooling around” or “fuliranje”. This is where you can dance in the street, and eat and drink all you would like. A true place to be merry.

     It can be very easy to see how this market has been voted the “best Christmas market destination” by travellers two year running.

Make sure while you are visiting, to take a ride through the city center on the Jolly Christmas Tram. Your travelling companions? Santa and his elves.

 

Striezelmarkt, Dresden

     While visiting Germany during the Holiday season, I urge you to visit the Striezelmarkt Christmas market. Striezelmarkt celebrated it’s 580th anniversary in 2014. Next year marks 585 years, Striezelmarkt is the oldest market in the country.

     Striezelmarkt is open throughout the Advent period and closes Christmas Eve. There are over 250 booths, a 20 m high Spruce (decorated with lights) and a beautiful wooden fairy-tale castle, which is also a giant Advent calendar. A door is opened every day, with a puppet show. Friday’s also brings Father Crhistmas for a visit to the market.

     A piece of beauty that is a must see (and pictured in the above photo), is the 14m high candle pyramid. The candle pyramid is brought out every year to light up rooms at Christmas in many parts of Germany. The candle pyramid you would find in homes is only about 50cm high. What a difference!

As the Christmas season approaches and we find ourselves getting more and more into the Festive feeling, I don’t know if anything beats a Christmas in beautiful, old-world charm. Although, we may find out. I would like to touch on some Canadian and American Christmas markets.

South Korea is a place that is talked about often in our household. My 13-year old daughter, Vail, completely surprised us all about two-ish years ago.

Vail is a shy, quiet (if you do not know her) girl who really enjoys keeping to herself. She does not like to stand out at all, she really does like her “invisibility”. Then a Korean-pop band was introduced to her.. BTS.

This band introduced her to a whole new world, a whole new way for her to live life. Yes, she still enjoys her invisibility, however, she doesn’t mind standing out anymore. In a matter of months she had almost her entire class, plus another class, converted to fans of Korean Pop (K-Pop) and Japanese Pop (J-Pop).

She has also become completely consumed with the Korean culture. She has even taught herself Korean. This is a girl that doesn’t want to learn French (our second language and taught in schools) because it is to hard, but she managed to teach herself Korean, and is actually quite good. I do believe that after highschool we will be saying good-bye to her as she heads off to live in Korea.

One thing that she wants to do more than anything is go to South Korea. She wants to go so bad, she tried to convince me that a 3-day tour would be perfect! I tried to explain to her that, even though it is a brilliant thing to look at, for her, it wouldn’t really suit. Especially for a first visit. We talked about everything that she wanted to see and do (and reminded her that we probably wouldn’t get to meet BTS! Haha) while we there, and she realized that we will definitely need at least a, definitely, dedicated week!

I would definitely love to take her, and have been looking at numerous options including what promises to be a beautiful and amazing tour from G Adventures. This is promising for us, because of the tour itself. A fun-filled, jam packed 10-day tour that includes visiting the Demilitarized Zone, sleeping in a temple in Busan, and exploring Jeju Island. And, of course, we cannot forget the all-important (at least the most important to Vail) day in Seoul.

I cannot even begin to say how proud I am of her. Most kids would be all over going to Cuba, Mexico, some beach resort, warmth, sun, water and fun. And even though her love for Korea started because of a group of boys, it has grown into a culture love for her. She really is interested in learning more about the history, visit the beautiful culture and history-filled landscapes. She is a huge lover of their cuisine and cannot wait to be over there tasting everything. She wants a vacation full of culture, history, and learning, plus some sightseeing. Of course she hopes to meet BTS as well, but completely understands that it just may not happen 🙂 .

As an agent, I specialize in family vacations, and have become an expert, specially trained, with some suppliers. I can honestly say that she has completely inspired me. I will be attending training classes to learn more about South Korea and became one of their experts. This is very exciting for me. I cannot wait to be able to help travellers find their perfect Korean vacation.

The other day, we talked about giving experiences and memories, rather than toys. I have really been thinking about this, and where we could possibly go for next Christmas.

I was sitting down searching a Sunwing destination for a client, and came across something that I did not know! Sunwing offers Kid-cations.

Kid-cations is what Sunwing refers to their kid-friendly vacations as.

Here is an excerpt from a Sunwing brochure talking about their amazing Family Vacations. “Young travellers and their parents can look forward to top-tier family-friendly amenities, entertainment, facilities and activities in beachfront locations across Mexico, Central America, and the Carribean. We’ve handpicked these resorts for family vacations, as they feature all the big and small details that go into creating a memorable vacation for everyone in the family.”

First, let’s touch on the savings that are available for family vacationers through Sunwing. Kids, aged 2-12 years stay, play and eat free! And teens? For your teens, aged 13-17 years, there are great deals. They also offer Single Parent savings. Conditions apply, but they offer the opportunity to travel with your children with no single supplement! Talk to your Travel Agent about finding a resort with the SmileResorts logo.

When vacationing with your family and Sunwing, you will love their geared-to-kids offerings… Pools (some dedicated to kids), splash areas and waterparks. Kid-friendly (taste-tested) menus, clubs for babies, kids and teens, and a large variety of exciting activities.

One last piece of information, a definite must to find out about. Make sure, when you are getting ready to book, getting all of the information, ask about all the eco-tours/adventures that you can go on through Sunwing and the resorts. These include things like an eco-adventure park in Mexico and a deserted island in the Dominican Republic.

I think out experience-giving for next Christmas is set in stone, we just need to decide on a resort!

 

 

 

With Christmas right around the corner everyone is thinking gifts.. What do I buy for little Tommy and Suzy? I might have an excellent solution for you…

For a couple of years now we have talked about giving our children the gift of experiences, the gift of memories. However, how do you give this gift and still please six children of all different ages. I think we have found our solution.

This year we are starting small. We had always made plans about giving the kids a trip to Disney or something for Christmas, but logistics-wise, the ages of the kids just did not work until now.

To make sure that this is something that the kids are going to love, we have decided to break up the experiences. Gear them to the kids. First, we are taking our 4 and 7 year old to Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto. I am excited because the four older children have gone, and the rest of us haven’t. I think this is going to be an amazing time for these two.

We were also able to get tickets to Disney on Ice for the new year, and that is something that our 7 year old will absolutely love! She is a true Disney fan.

Now, our middle two, they are 9 and 11, and are boy and girl.. What is it that we do? I have racked my brain on this for months! I was just going to do the Aquarium with them, but I was told not too, they had been too many times before (this is my 16 year old daughter telling me this). Probably wise, I do think they would enjoy it, but it isn’t quite what I am looking for.

Well, this year we had an adventure park, The Factory, and a trampoline park, The Flying Squirrel, open up in the city close to us. PERFECT! They would both love, love, love The Flying Squirrel! Problem: they both went there to celebrate the end of my son’s football season with his team… bummer. Well, The Factory it is! With it’s high ropes courses, zip lines, virtual reality, trampolines (and more!) these two are going to be ecstatic! I really cannot wait to see their faces when they open up their tickets on Christmas morning! And, well, who am I kidding? I can’t wait to check out the virtual reality and arcade.

Now, that leaves us with the hardest two children in the world to buy for! What can we get for them, as an experience. One wants a trip to Korea, the other wants to go to California! See, it is very hard to try to make everyone happy ha!

Those destinations aren’t on the list this year, maybe another Christmas. But, I think I did find them something absolutely amazing. This past October I had the opportunity to go to the Stratford Festival with both my 11 year old and 13 year old daughters. Absolutely amazing, beautiful, stunning… I just cannot find the right words. I have never been to Stratford to see anything besides their Shakespeare productions (HUGE Shakespeare and live theatre fan). I jumped at the chance to go their school trip to see The Music Man.

While we were waiting for the production to begin, my 13 year old was looking through the program book. In it was a piece of paper announcing a production they are doing next year. As soon as she saw she was jumping up and down for joy! She text a picture of it to her 16 year old sister and asked me if we could go. I knew then what they were getting as their experience for Christmas.

In 2019, as a Christmas gift, I am taking my two oldest daughters to see one of our all time favourite movies, live on stage! The Stratford Festival is putting on a production of The Neverending Story, and let me tell you, we cannot wait to see Falkor live! I will definitely tell you what I thought, after we see it!

The gift of experiences and memories came as an idea because our kids have so much in the way of toys, books, and games. Sure new clothes are always good, especially with how fast they grow, but we wanted to be able to give them a lifetime of memories, instead of toy box full of unused things. Next year, maybe we will expand, I am thinking something a Norwegian Cruise, or a beautiful all-inclusive family resort, but we will see.. This year, I cannot wait to see everyone’s faces when they get to experience their gifts!

For the past few weeks I have been heavily advertising my new travel business. I talk to people when I am out and about, I have a Facebook page, and I have been doing all kinds of Christmas/Holiday Bazaars and Vendor shows. You know, there all sorts of small business, Direct Sales, and crafts in your local hall or church… This is the perfect place and time for me to get a conversation in about giving experiences at Christmas, but more on that later…

One thing that I have been hearing alot, yes ALOT, is “I book online, I don’t need a travel agent for anything”.

When I ask why, no one knows the answer. I get it’s easier, it’s cheaper, I don’t have to leave my house, and so on. Then I get to explain why 2 of those reasons aren’t true, and why the third is still the same when you book through me.

Let’s look at it’s easier… What is easier exactly? You go through all the different travel sites, there are so many(!), looking for the right price, or maybe even the right vacation. Some people have told me that they search these sites looking for a vacation because they don’t even know where they want to go!

So, now you have spent an hour or two, who knows, maybe even five, searching the internet for a great vacation or vacation price. All while your travel agent would have done that for you (we do have access to multiple suppliers), saving you time. We can find you the best price, the coolest excursions, we even ask the right questions to make sure your vacation is absolutely perfect! This is true even when you contact us and don’t have a vacation spot in mind. We will help you match you to an amazing destination that suits your needs!

What else is easier with a travel agent… I heard a horror story about a couple who booked their vacation through one of the online travel booking sites. When they reached the hotel that they were to be staying at, they found out it was closed, out of business, no longer there! They were supposed to be staying here for 4 weeks, booked and paid for! Not only was the online site difficult to get a hold of, they were difficult to deal with. The couple did eventually get a flight home, paid for by the online site, but that site will not for any reason refund the couple.

So, in this situation, how would a travel agent be different, make it easier? Well, first as professionals, we have access to crazy amounts of travel news. This is the kind of news that could have informed us that that hotel was no longer in operation. Thus finding a different hotel to book. Second, part of the job, at least I do this, is to check the hotel. I want to make sure that you are getting what you booked. I like to speak with someone at the hotel directly. This gives me the opportunity to make sure everything is the same as what my client has booked. This way, we make sure that you have an enjoyable stay. But, we are also there if some sort of emergency arises. Let’s just say the worst happens and you get to your hotel to find it gone, closed, whatever the case may be. This after you departed and we had no idea. One phone call/email to your travel agent and they will be on top of getting you exactly what you need!

Booking with a travel agent is not only easier, it is a great way to go! We do all the work, you just enjoy!

Now, let’s talk about cheap. There are plenty of websites out there that offer cheap vacations, hotels, flights, etc.. However, what are you getting when you book? Looking at the example above, you are not getting someone who will check out the validity of various parts of your vacation. You are not getting a dedicated person who will help you if some sort of emergency arises. You also, quite frankly, aren’t getting someone who wants to make sure that your vacation is perfectly suited to you.

When it comes to cheap, what can a travel agent do for you? Well, first, we do have access to, again, multiple suppliers. All of them have sales, discounts, etc that happen all the time throughout a year, we can certainly help you out that way. But, you are also getting someone who is going to do everything in their power to ensure that you do not end up having to spend extra on your vacation because of a mishap.

Let’s look at the example above for a minute. The couple spent $1000’s on a 4 week vacation, only to arrive and find out that their hotel was out of business. Now they have to go and find another hotel, pay again, out of their pocket for the expense, and find out when they return that the company will not refund their money. That is a lot of money gone, on a vacation that lasted about three days. The company flew them home on the third day of their vacation. So, they paid their money for the vacation, and paid again for 2 nights in another hotel. That does not sound like a cheap vacation. Sure the original price might have been a lot less than booking elsewhere, but what did they get from it?

Then you have your travel agent who ensures that these things don’t happen! To add further to this, here in Ontario, we are governed by TICO and have rules that we have to follow. One of those rules, we MUST inform our client of ANY change to their vacation, and have guidelines that we have to follow. So, for example, you are taking a cruise, you book a certain ship, on a certain sailing and are all excited. The cruise agency that we booked with has come back and said, “This ship isn’t available now, for whatever reason we have substituted it.” Now, it is up to your agent to inform you of this, and of the decisions you can make. So, rather than spending, we’ll say, $5000 on a cruise and boarding to find out that nothing on the ship is what you were expecting… You have had your travel agent who fixed the situation before hand.

This goes with the hotel in the example. We would have known before hand and could have fixed the situation.

Now, with the “cheap” word, this goes for things like insurance. So, you are on your dream vacation, and because you didn’t book with a travel agent, you have insurance that may not cover you properly (yes, we know insurance too!). So, the worst has happened, there has been an accident and your insurance is not going to cover your medical bills. Now, your “cheap” vacation is costing you tens of thousands.

So, in all honesty, there seem to be perks to booking through these cheap booking sites, but they can cost you a lot in the long run, and you just don’t have the personal service.

Now, let’s talk about this never having to leave my home thing.. I am one of the agents that do this, I do not how many of us are out there, but I know there are a few. I will come to you! With me, you have the option of coming to my office, meeting somewhere neutral, me coming to you, or even, a lot of it can be done via phone, email, Skype, etc… You really do not need to leave home if you don’t want to. And, again, I save you time, and even hassle, of booking everything for you.

When it comes to booking travel, yes there can be perks to booking on online booking sites, but there are also too many disadvantages. The next time you go to book a vacation, if you do not use a travel agent, you are missing out on personalized service, knowing that you are covered, and knowing that all of the components of your vacation are in place, and confirmed. We offer so much value to your vacation, and even discounts and sales too!

With yesterday being the busiest travel day of the year and tomorrow being Thanksgiving in the US, everyone is thinking about travel. Where are we spending the Holidays? What if we take a vacation for Christmas?

I have often thought about travelling with the kids for the Holidays. If you know me, you know that I am a proud Canadian, but hate the cold and snow of winter! I would much rather sun, warmth, and green grass. However, the snow at Christmas time can be so beautiful and magical.

So, how do you choose where to go? Or do you stay home? We all think about that one statement… “There is no place like home for the holidays”.

However, I think that families, couples, and singles can all find a beautiful place to visit and see new Holiday traditions come alive.

I have put together this photo list of beautiful places to visit (including the photo of Quebec). I know there are a few on my travel bucket list!

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few of some particularly beautiful places that bring Christmas alive, and/or allow you to create your own brand new traditions.

In my last post I was talking about how I was looking for a video. Well, the video just happened to be all about the new underwater hotel in the Maldives, The Muraka, located at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. With how breathtaking just the video is, I cannot wait to see it in person.

The Muraka is a first-of-its-kind, and offers two levels of residence. One below and one above the water. Just imagine laying in your bed, and gazing up to one of the most spectacular views ever seen. Imagine all of the fish and other underwater wildlife swimming past. It is even said that your bathtub has its own magnificent ocean view!

This resort, with all of it’s offerings, including a personal chef and use of a private boat, will set you back a cool $50,000 a night. However, you have to book a minimum of 4 nights. I do hear though, that booking this property will get you automatic Hilton Diamond Status.

This is truly a once in a lifetime dream trip. This will most certainly be found, not only on my dreamboard, but on many other dreamboards. The vacation of a lifetime!

 

This morning I opened my weather network app to look at a video I had seen the other day. However, instead of finding what I was looking for, I found that four letter s word that I dread! And to go with it? The squalls word… It really got me to thinking about summer and not being able to wait for next year!

I am truly one of those Canadians who absolutely loves being Canadian, I am proud to be Canadian, I love everything about Canada… except for the snow. So, when the snow starts to come around I like to think ahead and plan our summer vacation.

With 6 kids, all school aged, we spend a lot of summer vacation travelling locally. We love everything to do with the outdoors, and are always looking for good fishing, hiking, and canoeing.

One place that we have found that offers all of these, and more, is The Great Canadian Hideaway, just outside of Parkhill, Ontario. The Hideaway is located on the water of a 200-acre man made lake, and features a natural beach area. This is perfect for fishing, picture taking, or launching your paddle boat or canoe (both can be rented here, if needed).

The lake makes for a beautiful canoe ride through the Spring, Summer, and Fall. We try to canoe here at least once in every season.

They offer beautiful, treed, spacious lots for both tents and trailers. There is a heated pool (seasonal), store, petting zoo, bike and pedal cart rentals, and a beautiful hiking trail along the old railroad tracks, which is filled with geocaches, and in the bordering Ausable Bayfield Conservation Area.

There is also a special set of campsites, with controlled entry, for families and couples. This is called the Hidden Hideaway, and it has set quite hours. This is the perfect spot to bring your family with young children. There are also laundry facilities and bathrooms (yes, with showers!) within.

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The Hideaway is a great place to come and make new friends, enjoy some amazing activities, and take in beautiful, breath-taking scenery.