Ava Pierce: The Blog - Lounge. Rant. Find your inner bitch.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Ava's Faves: Gelato

Today's Annoyance: People who merely exist and never truly live
Mantra of the Day: I will always find a way to realize my dreams.

It's National Ice Cream Month and yesterday was National Ice Cream Day. Think I'm kidding? Click here. I never kid a bout something as serious as a celebration of ice cream. And while I realize that ice cream and gelato are not the same thing, the similarity is close enough for me.

My absolute love of gelato knows no boundaries. I actually went on a walking tour through Milan, sampling different flavors of the savory delight at nearly every gelateria that I passed. My favorite flavors are Vanilla Choco-Cookie, followed by Stracciatella. Just too good!!

[IMAGE: Courtesy of Melt]

Friday, July 17, 2009

JSTD: Check out the local area

Do as much research as you can about your hotel and the neighboring area before you arrive.

Jet Set Tip of the Day sponsored by:

Saving the world, luxe style

Today's Annoyance: People who don't give back
Mantra of the Day: I take every opportunity to share my gifts with the world.

OK, so we've already figured out a way to glam up camping. You may have also wondered if there are ways to do more than write a check to your favorite charity that don't involve living out of a knapsack for six months and fighting off man-sized bugs.

With all due respect to the Peace Corps and other such amazing organizations, I probably wouldn't last a week. On that note, my sights are set firmly on voluntourism. Yes, that's right, my jet-setters-in-training! You can get your volunteer on and still make time for some luxury sightseeing.

A couple of resources to help you help others while you jet set: Hands Up Holidays and BootsnAll.

[IMAGE: Courtesy of Los Ninos, Inc.]

Thursday, July 16, 2009

JSTD: Go for the higher floors

When checking into your hotel, request a room on a higher floor to avoid heavy foot traffic and accessibility from the outside.

Jet Set Tip of the Day sponsored by:

Jet Set Gone Wrong

Today's Annoyance: Abusers of the system
Mantra of the Day: I'm earning my jet set lifestyle the right way.

Within the past year, the news has been especially rife with stories about CEOs and politicians abusing their expense accounts, corporate budgets and taxpayer money to live a posh life. Remember the story about Merrill Lynch's CEO who used $1.2 million of company funds to redecorate his office? As if that wasn't enough, he paid his driver $230,000 for one year's work. (Wow, that must be some driver!)

In the UK, businessman Douglas Brown saw fit to plunder £2.5 million from his company so that he and his family could live the good life. For 12 years, good ole Doug wrote false checks and handed in phony invoices that allowed him to honeymoon in Italy, buy a villa in Florida, BMWs for himself and his wife, stay at five-star hotels, ride around in a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce, shop at the best stores, and dine at the swankiest restaurants. His annual salary was a meager £79,000. Did I mention that he recommended laying off ten people between 2001 and 2006? Thankfully, his greed landed him a seven-year jail sentence.

A few other Brits also joined the jet-set-gone-wrong club, including soon-to-be former Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin and Conservative Member of Parliament Douglas Hogg. Martin resigned after reports arose that he had expensed a massage chair, pornographic movies, a moat cleaning, a plasma TV, horse manure for gardens, and tennis court repairs. Hogg claimed several questionable expenses such as a full-time housekeeper, work done to his stables, piano tuning, and more than $3,000 for the cleaning of the moat around his 13th century country home. (Seems like no one wants to pay for their own moat cleaning.)

My conscience just wouldn't allow me to support my lifestyle this way. What would you be willing to do to live the jet set life?

[IMAGE: Courtesy of Getty Images]

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

JSTD: De-magnetize hotel room keys

When you have an electronic hotel room key (you know the ones that look like credit cards), rub it next to a magnet before you check out. Little do most people know, that card has all of your personal information that you gave the hotel to reserve the room, including your credit card number.

Jet Set Tip of the Day sponsored by:

Ava's Faves: Royal Myconian Hotel & Resort

Today's Annoyance: Abruptly-ended vacations
Mantra of the Day: I understand why Greece is the cradle of civilization.

Heaven really does exist. You can get there by checking into the Royal Myconian Hotel on the island of Mykonos (of course). Admittedly, I nearly wept when I had to check out of this hotel. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it so take a look at these photos while I compose myself.

[IMAGES: Courtesy of Royal Myconian Hotel]

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

JSTD: Pets get jet lag, too

Remember that Fido can get jet lag too! So when traveling with your dog, be sure to take him for a walk when you land and make sure that he doesn’t sleep too much when you arrive at your destination.

Jet Set Tip of the Day sponsored by:

Cool stuff for your jet set pet

Today's Annoyance: Animals with wardrobes bigger than mine
Mantra of the Day: With accessories like these, a dog's life doesn't seem so bad.

These fabulous little amenities are enough to make me want to get a pet:

At the same time, I'm not sure that I could bring myself to buy fine jewelry for an animal.

Apparently, you can buy just about anything for your pet that you can for yourself. (Heaven help us if they come up with plastic surgery for animals.) Posh beds. Halloween costumes. Evening wear. Even swimsuits (imagine, a bikini for your cat! lol) You can even send your little precious one to a special pet resort if you, he or she prefers - Paradise4Paws in Chicago.

Here are several resources to make your four-legged friends as fabulous and comfortable as you are:

Let's not forget Madame Ella and Miss Ditto Dyer's endorsement of Westin hotels.

Keep in mind that loving your pet can go a bit too far. Check out Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves to see what I mean.

Peace, love and good travel to you and yours!

[IMAGES: Courtesy of Bitch New York, Funny Fur, Calling All Dogs]

Monday, July 13, 2009

JSTD: Tone it down

Wear minimal jewelry and carry a smaller purse when you travel to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Jet Set Tip of the Day sponsored by:

New giveaway: Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale

Today's Annoyance: Luggage fees
Mantra of the Day: I have no plans to bail out the airlines any further.

Airlines are getting way out of control with crazy fees. On one of my international jaunts late last year, I paid more than $100 each way for my luggage and the airline had the nerve to lose one of my bags!

Somehow, airlines managed to survive for so many years without charging per bag. Now, nearly all of them are charging increasingly ridiculous fees for travelers' checked luggage, and the fees often rise depending on weight. If you're like me and tend to shop a bit while you're traveling, this is very uncool because even if you manage to escape the fees on the way to your destination city, they'll get you on the way back, if you're not careful.

The travel experience is worsened when you're standing in line behind people who try to repack their belongings at the check-in desk.

Enter my new must-have gadget and current giveaway item: the digital luggage scale. Balanzza makes a variety of portable scales, some of them even come equipped with an alarm clock and a flashlight!

Balanzza's Digital Luggage Scale weighs only 10 ounces and it's strong enough to weigh up to 100 pounds (45 kilograms). In short, we jet-setters-in-training need one of these, now!

If you don't want to wait, you can buy one now at the Balanzza online store.

So, here are the rules:

1. You can receive 1 entry for sharing a luggage nightmare story below (e.g., lost luggage, crazy fees, etc.). If you don't have any luggage nightmare stories, not to worry, Lucky! Simply add a relevant comment to any of my other blog posts. Spam and single-word comments don't count.

2. You can receive a 2nd bonus entry for sending a tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to reference my Twitter account - @avapierce - in your announcement so that you receive your bonus entry. (There's a maximum of 2 entries per person for this giveaway.)

3. Comments left prior to today will not count as entries into the giveaway.

4. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

5. The winner will be selected using Random.org and will be announced on my blog and via Twitter on Monday, July 20. The winner must contact me by e-mail (ava at avapierce dot com) within three days of the announcement to claim their prize. If the winner does not claim their prize within that time period, another name will immediately be drawn for the prize.

Have questions about the giveaway? Post a comment below or send me a message: ava at avapierce dot com. Good luck and I can't wait to read and respond to your comments!

Friday, July 10, 2009

JSTD: Make yourself easy to find (sort of)

Pencil in your local contact number in the front of your passport when going abroad. It is an easy way for Good Samaritans to get a hold of you if you happen to misplace it when you are out of the country.

Jet Set Tip of the Day is sponsored by:

Bugs, monkeys and other wildlife

Today's Annoyance: Unidentified bugs and cheeky monkeys
Mantra of the Day: It's survival of the fittest!

Whether or not you choose to travel as a backpacker or as a diva jet setter, it's likely that at some point, you're going to have to deal with wildlife. I recall entering my room at a resort in Mykonos to find a couple of bugs the likes of which I had never seen before. Much to my dismay, the hotel staff had left the balcony doors open and a few multi-legged critters had hopped or flown into my room. Let's just say that a standoff ensued. Rather than play the helpless maiden card and call the hotel desk, I put on my Sheena, Queen of the Jungle hat. I make no apologies when I say that those bugs had to go. For all I know, they could have been completely harmless. But, I wasn't taking any chances.

I also recall an incident at a lion farm in Sun City, South Africa. I took the opportunity to play with one of the adorable lion cubs that was only a few weeks old. (Did I mention that its paws were bigger than my hands? Real cute, huh?) No one had warned me that, despite this cub's size, its roar rivaled that of his much bigger brothers. Yeah. It was an interesting experience and I am happy to report that my hearing returned a few hours later.

Then, there was Eddy's monkey incident in Sodere, Ethiopia. In short, avoid eating in places where monkeys congregate. For more on preventing monkey attacks, check out Jason Daley's article.

Have any of you had run-ins with wildlife during your travels? I'd love to hear your stories.

[IMAGE: Courtesy of Global Jet Set Media, Inc.]

Thursday, July 9, 2009

JSTD: Avoid bad food

If you have any food allergies, learn the names of those foods in the local language. We can't have our jet setting pals getting sick!

Jet Set Tip of the Day is sponsored by:

A flying palace? I'll take two, please.

Today's Annoyance: There's always more to accomplish
Mantra of the Day: There's always more to accomplish!

The Saudis always know how to kick things up a notch (or three). It's not enough just to have your own private jet. Oh no! Private jets are for wannabes. If you really want to show what you're made of, you get a flying palace.

Reportedly, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has hired a firm to convert an Airbus 380 into a flying palace, with features including a "relaxation zone", a Turkish bath, a private quarter with five suites, a boardroom for meetings, a concert hall, a floating spiral staircase, an elevator and an onboard garage. Did I mention that the suites each have a king-sized bed, an entertainment system and a prayer room with computer-generated prayer mats facing Mecca? It even includes 20 first-class-style seats for extra guests. (Wouldn't that be the equivalent of flying coach on a regular airplane? Just wondering.)

The cost for this toy: a mere $482 million. Like I said, I'll take two.