I've written reviews of Disney cruises before, like the Disney Wonder to Alaska (which I don't recommend) and a Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy (which I highly recommend). Most parents agree that Disney is made for kids. The cruise ships are optimized for your kids, and I'll go into detail below on the differences with Royal Caribbean. We sailed RCL before we had kids … [Read more...]
Disney Alaska cruise review
The quick summary If you can depart from Seattle instead of Vancouver, pick that option. Leaving from Vancouver means going through U.S. and Canadian customs multiple times, and unfortunately they aren't equipped to handle the crowds. Better yet, stick to the newer Disney ships sailing to the Caribbean. Planning a Disney Alaska cruise Vancouver is a beautiful city. … [Read more...]
Travel to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting
Warren Buffett is an interesting guy, but Charlie Munger is hilarious. I had the opportunity to take a trip to Omaha to check out the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. I've always been interested in finance, investing, and successful people, so I knew I wanted to go. The first thing you should know is that you don't have to actually own stock in BRK.A or … [Read more...]
Free Night from Hotels.com Welcome Rewards
This review is the result of a last minute road trip. In the past, I used Hotels.com to book accommodations whenever I traveled. I joined their Welcome Rewards program in June of 2010, and it took me two years to accumulate 10 nights, giving me 1 free night stay. The only problem was that I didn't realize I had earned the free credit until almost a year later when it was … [Read more...]
Disney Cruise Review for Parents with a Toddler
This is a comprehensive and detailed trip review that I hope will be an organized resource for others. Before you spend your valuable time reading this entire post, I want to be clear who would benefit from this information. The ideal reader is a parent with a young child or children (under 3 years old) who is willing to spend money to reduce stress. I won't be describing the … [Read more...]
Review of Wilde & Greene at Old Orchard Mall
The summary: Nice concept, horrible execution. The story: We brought our 1-year-old to the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois to ride the train and do some shopping. We also wanted to check out the new dining option that had replaced the old food court. It was called Wilde & Greene. My first impression was that the double wooden doors looked nice, but they … [Read more...]
Road Trip to Bloomington, Illinois
The purpose of this trip was simple -- test the ability of new parents to do an overnight road trip with a 10-month-old baby. Like I said, this test was more for the parents than the baby. It's been said that your ability to travel with a kid is directly proportional to your sensitivity to annoying others. Personally, I never liked hearing screaming kids on a plane (who … [Read more...]