2012: A Review of My Year in Travel

What a year 2012 was for me, travel-wise! And not to mention the launch of this blog: www.justin-does.com (thank you so much for reading)!

I took 96 domestic flights in 2012. Here's a map:

and a map of the 9 INTERNATIONAL flights I took:

A few statistics:

• A total 74,830 butt-in-seat miles were flown - enough miles to circumnavigate the earth 3 times
• I spent 9 days or 216 hours in an airplane
• I was at 28 airports in 7 countries
• My longest flight was 4,745 miles (London to Dallas)
• My shortest flight was 148 miles (Houston to Austin)

It was a year of AMAZING trips:

• Cabo San Lucas
• Boston
• European Tour including Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, and Nice.
• Seattle
• Nantucket Island
• Grand Cayman Island
• West Virginia
• New York
• Vail / Beaver Creek, Colorado

Some of my favorite photos from my travels in 2012:

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 

Brussels, Belgium 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prague, Czech Republic

Seattle

Nantucket Island

Grand Cayman Island

Cayman in the snow

Casey in the snow

Not exactly roughing it.

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New Year's Eve Road Trip With The Hounds

Let's face it, New Year's Eve is a lame "holiday". So we thought it would be great to convince some friends (shout out to Jason, Erin, Scott, and Maria) to get out of Austin and spend the 'holiday' skiing in Colorado. Since we just got a place there, we wanted to bring the dogs, Cayman and Casey.

An "easy" drive from Austin, Texas to Beaver Creek (Avon), Colorado is to go north through Dallas, then Oklahoma, to Salina, Kansas and turn left (west). Although a longer drive in miles, it takes a little less time since it is all interstate. With the exception of Oklahoma, the speed limit for the majority of the drive is 75 MPH (which is really 80 MPH).

Because of bad weather this time around, we ended up going the more 'direct' route via major metropolises of Early, Texas; Winters, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; Amarillo, Texas; Channing, Texas; etc. You get the idea.

17 hours. 10 in Texas alone.

The girls love car rides. In fact all you have to do is say "car ride" and the girls are at the door ready to go. So we weren't worried about a 17 hour car ride with the dogs.

Are we there yet?

We ended up overnighting in Lubbock, Texas at the beautiful La Quinta Inn & Suites in North Lubbock. I am not a hotel snob and can pretty much stay anywhere as long as it is clean and safe. The LQ was fine, especially for a place to crash overnight.

I stay in a lot of hotels. One thing that I don't understand are those nasty 'quilts' on hotel beds. They are gross. And you know they are not cleaned after each guest. One of the first things I do when I get to a hotel is to throw that quilt in the corner of the room.

Picture courtesy of lq.com.

Not 5 seconds after getting into bed and the dogs snuggled next to me, Cayman got off the bed. She explored every last inch of the room. Once she was done exploring I figured she would head back to bed, but no. She went over to that nasty quilt and started pushing and pulling on it to make a nest. I swear, she spent a good 7 minutes building the perfect nest. Once she was done, however, she sniffed the quilt and then walked over to the bed and jumped on. Even the quilt in the perfect nest was too nasty for her. Just sayin'.

The next day, we were up early. Out into 9 degree weather the girls and I went. Luckily, being Texas dogs, they wanted nothing to do with the cold. So we loaded up the truck and were off for day 2.

Casey's on the road again.

Here's a tip for any of you that want to take your dogs on a road trip. The best place to stop for breaks are McDonalds. Why you ask? They ALWAYS have patches of grass that the hounds can use for their business. Plus, you can pickup a soda, coffee, or snack. Perhaps even a McRib if you're feeling up to it.

Someone spied a french fry.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. If you follow me on twitter (@JustinDoesBlog), you kept up to date on some of the amazing sites along the way. [If you are a tweep and you don't yet follow me, please follow me!]

Just truckin' along.

After 17 long hours and some pretty snowy mountain roads, we made it to the condo in the early afternoon. Now we're just waiting on the friends to arrive for a long weekend of skiing, snowboarding, and wine!


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Justin Does...New York City

There is no better weekend getaway than The Big Apple.

Sightseeing, shopping, dining, theater, you name it: The City That Never Sleeps has it all.

Read about some of the places and things I do every time I am in New York City over at fabisthenewblack.com!

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GoGo In-Flight Internet Price Adjustments, Again

Two weeks ago I wrote about a huge price hike for monthly GoGo internet passes. A reader pointed out to me this morning that it appears that GoGo, the WiFi provider for many of the major domestic airlines (including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, etc.) has yet again adjusted their prices. This time, however, the prices have gone down.

I reached out to @GoGo on twitter to see if I missed the announcement of the price increase. In a brief email exchange, a GoGo representative explained that:

An email about price changes was sent to current monthly subscribers.  If you have let your subscription lapse, then you might not have gotten an email.  However, monthly unlimited subscribers did receive an email.

For clarification, though, monthly subscribers who were paying $34.95, were increased to $39.95, which should be their current price.  If you are a new subscriber, the current rate would be $54.95.  In other words, existing subscribers will pay a much lower rate than people who just sign up for the service today.

When I explained that many friends who are and were subscribers never received a notice, GoGo followed up:

In terms of email notifications, a notification was sent to unlimited subscribers.  Subscribers to our Traveler Pass (monthly pass that’s airline specific) have not received any notifications because they shouldn’t have received an increase at this point.

For clarification:

-          Current Gogo Unlimited subscribers were notified that their pricing went from $34.95 to $39.95

-          Current Gogo Traveler Pass subscribers haven’t seen a price increase at this point

If you were a subscriber in the past and let your subscription lapse, you would need to renew at the current monthly subscriber rates of $54.95 for Gogo Unlimited and $44.95 for Gogo’s Traveler pass.

Well, GoGo adjusted their prices yet again:

As of today, December 18, 2012, the GoGo Unlimited pass, which allows unlimited internet access on all GoGo-equiped flights, is now $49.95 per month. Two weeks ago, the GoGo Unlimited pass price was raised to $54.95 (from the previous price of $39.95). 

GoGo's other monthly pass, The Traveler Pass, which is unlimited monthly service on one airline, has also decreased in price: currently $39.95/month from two weeks ago price increase to $44.95 (still an increase from the previous rate of $34.95/month).

So in less than a week of corresponding with GoGo on this, they change their prices yet again. Will they make up their minds or what? Or maybe the fluctuations can be chalked up to my investigative journalism...

What are your thoughts about this?

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Austin Wedding Weekend

A great way to end finals week: celebrating the marriage of good friends. And in Austin! Let's face it, a wedding invitation is a bill. You see the calligraphy. You feel the weight of the envelope. You think to yourself: $h!t! There goes at least a grand!

That's a problem with living in a city you didn't grow up in: you rarely have in-town weddings. Fortunately, this wedding bill was for a local wedding, woo-hoo!

I wasn't going to blog about this weekend, but the groom suggested demanded a post. He told me the only rules were the honest truth. For those of you that know me, I was bestowed the nickname "No Mercy" by my friend Taylor W (soon to be Taylor L). Rick said to me, "I want the truth. The No Mercy Truth." Okay, buddy, you got it!

I've known Rick and Allison for a couple years now. We had a fabulous time on a ski trip two years ago. In fact, we still laugh at some of the shenanigans from that trip.

Apparently we're close enough friends that we made the cut for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse (that's a mouthful, so going forward I'll refer to it as SRS). SRS was great. The service was outstanding and the food was delicious. Would I return? Perhaps. The problem is that Austin has so many great steakhouses, it seems pretty hard to justify the 35 minute drive to SRS. For the rehearsal dinner, however, the SRS was great. Justin Does Approve.

The wedding was on Saturday. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful wedding party. I mean, seriously, both sides were stunning. Allison was gorgeous in her dress, and what man doesn't look slick in a tuxedo?

I was a fan of the wedding, particularly because it was short. Being born and raised Catholic, any non-Catholic wedding seems short (have you ever been to a Catholic wedding?) The ceremony was meaningful, and no one fainted! That says a lot considering there were 8 attendants on each side!

Newly married!

The party, er, I mean, reception, was FANTASTIC. Rick and Allison picked the Westwood Country Club. It was a great venue. Everything was laid out well and the food stations were well spaced.

Speaking of food, you can't have a better menu than what Rick and Allison picked. My favorite was the chicken and waffles. A waffle topped with strawberry butter, southern fried chicken, and maple syrup. Yes, please! The crab cakes were delicious (covered in the rémoulade, of course) as were the beef skewers.

I'm always a little skeptical of live bands, but Rick and Allison's pick, Radiostar, was perfect. When you have an 80s cover band, you really can't go wrong. The band rocked it out the entire night and the dance floor was never empty. I mean, how could they not rock the party when the band wears Adidas track suits?

Rocking the Kasbah.

The couple picked fantastic swag for those attending. To go along with the 80s band, there was a bucket of 80s sunglasses:

I wear sunglasses at night, too.

Once the band had finished, it was time for the Rick and Allison to head off to the honeymoon suite. All in attendance lined up at the door and tossed flower petals at the bride and groom as they got into the car:

So happy!

Rick - you wanted the #NoMercy review of your wedding weekend? Y'all hit it out of the ballpark. Thank you so much for including us. Best wishes and hope y'all are enjoying your honeymoon!


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Justin Does State #48

In case you didn't know where West

Virginia was, here is a map. It is West

of the state of Virginia.

I just visited my 48th state: West Virginia. I went into the trip with low expectations, mostly because I knew nothing about the state other than 1) it was mountainous, 2) they have coal mines, and 3) moonshine.

The real reason for the trip was that the University of Kansas Jayhawks were playing the West Virginia University Mountaineers. Oh, and when else are you going to go to West Virginia. Seriously. (If I've offended you, you might as well stop reading now. If I've offended you, you should probably keep reading, but warning, there is a fair amount of snarkiness ahead).

So by now I've probably convinced you to go to West Virginia, right? Great! Here's some pointers.

We flew the lovely Southwest Airlines to Pittsburgh. That was another first for me! I have been to Philadelphia, but never to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh used to be a hub airport for US Airways and remnants of Pittsburgh International Airport's once busy times are evident on the empty banks of Arrival and Departure displays:

Either someone got a great deal on TVs
or the airport used to be a little busier.

From Pitt, rent a car and drive. I suggest heading to a town called Morgantown. What was most surprising to me about Morgantown was that it was so frickin' hilly, or I guess they're called mountains there. The roads through town were all windy and convoluted, I got lost at least once (okay, twice. Yea, you got me, four times).

Anyways, after a day of flying and driving, it was time to hit up the town:

Hanging out with the laid back mountain folk!

Moonshinin'

I'm going to go on record right now. Moonshine. Is. Delicious. It's like drinking apple pie, but getting really loaded. It's almost Christmas time. You know what I want? Equipment to make my own moonshine. Seriously. I found some great resources on how to make it, so now all I need is the equipment!

Saturday was game day. The mighty Jayhawks, well, they showed up. So I'll give them credit for that. I, on the other hand, had an excellent time.

I was able to experience true local cuisine - the pepperoni roll. Everywhere we went, after being told, "You ain't from around here," I was asked if I had had a pepperoni roll yet. Sounds exotic, right? Well, imagine some dough with some pepperoni baked in it. It was so delicious I ate it before I could take a picture. Sorry folks.

Some other highlights of the day included tailgating with, you guessed it, moonshine (see picture above). Walking to the game, on the field courtesy of my buddy Danny, I ran into the West Virginia University Mountaineer.

Fortunately he was pretty tame, especially after hearing he had recently killed a black bear with that gun he was carrying. He's a pretty cool guy, but the head on his hat was kind of freaking me out, so I told him to beat it.

All in all, it was a fun weekend. I was able to mark off another state from my list (can you guess the other two I have left?) and got to spend the weekend with some awesome people.

Can you guess who DIDN'T go to KU?

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What is Uber? Answer: The Best Car Service. Ever.

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to my favorite city: New York City. In NYC, I opted out of hailing a yellow cab, and instead, pulled out my iPhone to order an Uber.

Uber is an on-demand, private driver service in select cities. When in a city that has Uber (list below), you can request to be picked up anytime and anywhere using your iPhone or Android-phone.

No cash is needed with Uber as it is tied to your credit card linked to your account AND the tip is built into the cost! But the best part about Uber is the rating system. You rate your driver (1 to 5 starts) and the driver rates you. If you end up with a low rating (like, you have a tendency to get sick in the car...) drivers can decline picking you up.

Don't have Uber? Sign up and receive a $10 credit to your account after your first use! (Full disclosure: I will earn a referral bonus if you use this link)

List of cities where Uber is available (current as of December 11, 2012):

United States

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Denver
• Hamptons
• Los Angeles
• Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Napa
• New York City
• Orange County
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Washington, D.C.

International

• Amsterdam
• London
• Paris
• Sydney
• Toronto
• Vancouver

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Earn up to 1,000 United Mileage Plus Miles by Linking Your Social Media Accounts

You can earn up to 1,000 United Airlines Mileage Plus miles by linking your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare) with BCKSTGR, yet another social media site.

You will earn 400 miles for registering, and 200 miles each for linking your Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare accounts. The miles should post instantly to your Mileage Plus account (mine did):

The website seems to be running somewhat slow, but your patience will pay off! Once you link your accounts and the miles post to your Mileage Plus account, you can un-link your accounts on the "My Accounts" page of BCKSTGR.

Even if you don't fly United Airlines very often, you should take advantage of this offer. Free miles are free miles! Plus, earning any miles will prevent any miles you already have from expiring for another eighteen months.

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Did GoGo Quietly Raise Prices?

A reader pointed out to me this morning that it appears that GoGo, the WiFi provider for many of the major domestic airlines (including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, etc.) has quietly raised their prices.

Less than a week ago, you could buy the GoGo Unlimited pass for $39.95 per month. This pass allows unlimited internet access on all GoGo-equiped flights. As of today, the GoGo Unlimited pass goes for $54.95 - a whopping 38% increase. Wa what??

It appears that GoGo's other monthly pass, The Traveler Pass, which is unlimited monthly service on one airline, has also increased in price: currently $44.95/month from $34.95/month -  a 29% increase.

I reached out to @GoGo on twitter to see if I missed the announcement of the price increase, however, they have not yet responded.

What are your thoughts about this?

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Did you get your free 500 American AAdvantage Miles?

American Airlines is running a promotion where you can earn 500 American Airlines AAdvantage miles by liking AA and AAdvantage on Facebook and taking a brief survey.

The free miles will be awarded to the first 200,000 entries or though December 17, whichever comes first.

Even if you don't fly American very often, you should take advantage of this offer. Free miles are free miles! Plus, earning any miles will prevent any miles you already have from expiring for another eighteen months.

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Justin Does...Is One Month Old

One month ago, I flipped the switch on this blog, www.justin-does.com. Many friends have urged me over the years to do something like this and what better time to start: halfway through my masters program, in the weeks leading up to a major accreditation site visit for work, and while maintaining a travel-healthy schedule. The timing makes perfect sense, wouldn't you say?

It has been a busy month for Justin Does...
 

• Guest post at FabIsTheNewBlack.com on visiting Kansas City, Missouri
• Some tips on how to earn cash back, miles, or points when shopping online
• How to support primate conservation efforts when shopping at amazon.com
• Being featured in InFluential Magazine
• How to be notified via email when your airfare drops in price
• Guest post at FabIsTheNewBlack.com on visiting Grand Cayman Island

 
I hope to keep up the pace over the next month. Here's what I have on the calendar:
 

• Weekend trip to New York City
• Final exams
• Christmas Parties
• Attending a wedding of good friends
• Celebrating Christmas with family in Seattle and Kansas City
• Ringing in 2013 while snowboarding in Colorado

 
In the coming weeks and months, what would you like to read about? Please let me know by leaving a comment below, sending me a message on facebook, or tweeting to me!

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