Travel Deals

Cheap Flights from Philly, Boston, Manchester and Providence

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Are you looking to fly between Philadelphia, Boston, Manchester, or Providence in the next month? If so, this week is your lucky week — since Southwest Airlines is offering one way tickets for as low as $39. That’s quite a steal if you ask me; I didn’t think you could fly anywhere for less than $50 unless with the exception of RyanAir flights over in Europe. You need to book your flight by August 8 — you have 8 days left.

Further details about the Philly-Boston-Manchester-Providence special:

  • Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way.
  • 21-day advance purchase required.
  • Purchase by August 8, 2011, 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
  • Travel through August 25, 2011.
  • Travel valid every day except Fridays & Sundays.

More details here.

Travel Deals

Cheap Flights from Denver to Vegas – Special Southwest Airlines Offer

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Southwest Airlines is currently offering a one way fare from Denver to Las Vegas for $59. You just have to purchase by midnight PST August 1st — your time’s-a-tick-in.

Further Denver to Las Vegas fare details:

Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way.
Purchase by August 1, 2011, 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
Travel August 23 through December 14, 2011.
Blackout Dates Apply: September 1 – September 5 and November 17 – November 29, 2011
Travel valid every day except Fridays & Sundays.

Head over to Southwest Airlines for further information.

Island Hopping

Traveling by Ferry from Saint Thomas to Saint John

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The trip from Saint Thomas to Saint John is a really quick 20 minute ferry ride and costs $12 round trip. It runs from the marine terminal at Red Hook every hour — you can also take a Ferry from Charlotte Amalie to Red Hook if you want to do the whole trip via ferry from Charlotte Amalie. You’ll be dropped off at the dock at Cruz Bay in Saint John, where you can explore the town or rent a car to explore the rest of the island. Something I haven’t done the two times I’ve taken the trip so far, but plan to do this coming week on my 3rd trip.

The last ferry running from Saint John to Saint Thomas leaves Cruz Bay at 11 PM — so don’t drink too much and miss it unless you want to spend the night on Saint John. Side note — even though you can drink pretty much everywhere else in the US Virgin Islands (including in the car), you can’t drink on the ferry. I tried, and got scolded.

Destination Details

St Lucia, The Caribbean’s Hidden Little Gem

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The Caribbean islands are world famous for being exotic, vibrant and full of reggae reggae rhythms! When you visit here be prepared to not ever want to leave, as you will be entranced like so many poor souls before you will its stunning natural beauty and energetic national character.

St Lucia has to be one of the most overlooked Caribbean islands in contrast to its popular neighbors’ Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua. But the island of St Lucia is in a league all its own, and due to its lower profile than its sistering islands it has a lot more unspoilt natural beauty and hidden treasures to offer the more intuitive traveler.

Unlike the other Caribbean Islands St Lucia is more renowned for Jazz than Reggae, and you’ll definitely be able to hear that intoxicating rhythm wherever you go. To sample a real taste of St Lucia’s Jazz delights, you should come to the island when they hold their annual Jazz festivals all throughout the summer seasons. Such events as ‘Jazz on the beach’ and ‘Tea time Jazz’ are acclaimed throughout the global Jazz community and see the likes of the Pantime Steel Band, Luther Francois and the amazing Black Ants Band rock the crowds here to the point of euphoric hysteria! Last year the infamous Shaggy graced the stage of this monumental Jazz scene, who has enjoyed international stardom from hits such as ‘Mr Boombastic’ and ‘You’re my angel’. The St Lucia Jazz festivals also allows amateur musicians to have a go at entertaining the Jazzed up crowds if you so wish to. So if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Jazz musician, get in contact with the main orgainsers before you go, there details can be found on the St Lucia’s Jazz homepage.

St Lucia also holds annual Carnival events in July that have built up such a reputation, it now rivals the world famous Brazilian Carnivals. This is because St Lucia’s Carnivals incorporate many many different cultural forms from all over the world such as art, music, dance, theater and costume, but also with a unique style and touch all their own! Thousands of visitors flock to St Lucia every year for these special events and if you’re a fan of soca and Calypso music you will be in your utopia! They also hold a ‘Carnival Queen’ title, but beware the locals prepare most of the year hoping to win this prestigious honor so the competition is fierce!

If all the above hasn’t persuaded you to come to St Lucia yet, maybe the 19,000 acres of beautiful natural rainforest might tempt you a little more. From heavenly hummingbirds to swooping tree bats and a vast array of mesmerizing tropical plants and flowers, you will be in your element trekking through these magnificent jungles. There are lots of guided tours on offer when you get to St Lucia, all offering a variety of different walks and Jungle activities.

What are you waiting for? Come to St Lucia and have the holiday of a lifetime!

Travel Thoughts

The Backstories of Two Travel Bloggers

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I love where my feedreader (and Twitter) take me sometimes, and today was one of times. I started with one of the backpacking blogs I read regularly, Nomadic Matt, and came across his How I Became Nomadic Matt post . I’ve been reading Matt’s site for quite awhile (a year?), but never really had the backstory of how he got to where he is. Well, now I do — and I’ll likely be a more loyal reader as a result. From there, I read through the comments (and commented a couple times), and ended up clicking over to Toni White’s blog and seeing her “where my story began” post about halfway down the page. Both posts are fascinating stories. As I’ve said over and over, it’s the people and social components of the web that I enjoy — hence, the reason I enjoy reading personal stories like these and learning more about the actual individuals behind the blogs.

I’m a little over a year into my nomadic life, but I fully anticipate one of these posts is coming in my own future — might be awhile though. Those that really care can head to my personal blog and read away.

Things to Do

All You Can Eat Crab at Iggies Beach Bar in Saint Thomas on Tuesday Nights

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Who likes crab and beer?

Umm, me.

So, if you are a fan of crab and beer and happen to be staying on Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Iggies Beach bar has all you can each crab every Tuesday evening, good from 6 pm to 10 pm. When my friend and I went the other night, there were probably about 40 people devouring crab legs.

What can you expect in the way of a bill? $40 plus drinks. I spent $60 for crab, 2 beers, and tip. A little pricey, but not too outrageous.

At the end of the night, what stopped me was not getting full. Quite the contrary, I felt I could keep eating crab non stop — but I was sick of cracking open crab legs to get to that wondrous meat.

So Iggies on a Tuesday? Well worth it.

Exploring the Wild Blue Yonder