Whether on a beach, a mountainside, or the apex of a rollercoaster, there are moments during a great vacation where time seems to stand still. Or even turn backwards or sideways. When you know you’ll remember this forever, or when something long forgotten suddenly comes rushing forth.

I use the word vacation with intention. A great vacation is more than just a trip, it’s an escape from the everyday. It takes you on a journey to a specific place and time, and gives you permission to fully experience the now.

During a recent holiday break, my Facebook feed was loaded with photos from all sorts of remarkable destinations. But it wasn’t the images that stayed with me, it was the epiphanies. The thrill of exploring an exotic land with the partner you always knew was ‘The One’. The realization that a special place carries the spirit of someone we lost long ago. The moments of pure joy spent with a child on the edge of adulthood. The wonder of these experiences is hard to capture during our everyday life. But vacation gives us an extraordinary opportunity.

A great vacation doesn’t usually just happen, it takes planning and awareness and curiosity, a willingness to make a connection. This year I hope to connect with you in more ways, to help you be ready for those moments. As Go Informed turns three, it is a privilege to be part of your great vacation.

~ Maven

Maven is the founder of Go Informed.  You can listen to Maven on the Go Informed podcast; and read her posts on goinformed.net, which this month celebrates its third birthday.

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The post The Power of a Great Vacation appeared first on Go Informed.

A birthday is a great time to reflect and celebrate the year’s accomplishments. Thank you for being part of this wonderful adventure, for reading my posts, commenting, connecting, sharing with friends, and subscribing to The Informist.

Five Figure Milestone

As goinformed.net moves into its third year, my 33 Things to Know Before You Visit Universal Orlando post is on the verge of reaching 10,000 shares on Pinterest! This was my first real post on goinformed.net and remains the most viewed article yet. Nearest to my heart, I continue to update the 33 Things post to keep it fresh and relevant for anyone planning a trip to Universal Orlando.

And thank you Google for placing it at the top of your “Universal Orlando tips” search!

You’re on Vacation, Give it a Try!

Keeping this blog has made me more conscious of what makes a good vacation and how travel affects our everyday lives. For most of us it’s novelty that makes travel so compelling. It takes us out of our everyday routine and offers the chance to take risks and try new things.

Travel Offers the Chance to Practice Trying Something New

Some of my most courageous accomplishments this year took place in theme parks. Thanks to my daughter, I found the guts to ride the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida, and Disney World’s Tower of Terror. For years I had avoided these rides.

But once I had conquered the first ride, I knew I could handle a lot more than I had given myself credit for. Many times I’ve thought back to the feeling of being strapped into that roller coaster and the exhilaration of overcoming my fear. Taking risks takes practice – practice that presents itself in a million ways when we travel.

Any vacation can offer a chance to practice being brave. Whether it’s a roller coaster, a ride on a zip line, or discovering the ocean through a snorkeling mask, these experiences shape our everyday lives and change us for the better.

Informing and Inspiring Your Next Adventure

It is a pleasure and privilege sharing my experiences with you, and I hope they inspire you to try something courageous and bring that bravery into your life. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

~ Maven

Share Your Thoughts

What have you tried on vacation that you never imagined you’d do? Has travel inspired you to try something new in your life? Join the conversation in the comments below.

Posts From This Past Year

Blogaversary: Reflections from my first year of blogging

Five Things You Should Do The Night Before to Help You Wake Up Early On Your Theme Park Vacation

Here’s What It’s Like to Be First In Line At Universal Studios Florida (Video)

Harry Potter fans, here’s how to make the most of Universal Studios Florida early admission

7am Extra Magic Hours at Disney World: Blessing or Curse?

Six Things to Bring When You Go Shore Diving and Snorkeling

Review: Why I Love My New FujiFilm XP90 Waterproof Camera

This One Simple Tip Can Save Money on your Entire Universal Orlando Vacation

Can I skip the last leg of my multi-stop flight without big penalties?

Beat the Crowds and Skip the Line at Disney World’s Frozen Ever After Ride

Weather at Universal Orlando: 5 Cool Tips for the Heat and Rain

Jibe City Hang Out Beach Bar Bonaire

Disney World Weather Tips and Why August is a Great Time to Visit Orlando

Sea Salt Harvest on the Island of Bonaire

Best Disney Vacation Stocking Stuffers

Try a Hostel for Your Next Vacation

Aloha Grows on Trees: Kona Coffee Farm Tour at Greenwell Farms

Theme Park Rainy Day Tips: Xtreme Edition

Is the Harry Potter Ride Too Scary? Use Universal’s Child Swap to Find Out

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The post goinformed.net Celebrates Two Years appeared first on Go Informed.

Recently, while in the U.K., I had the opportunity to stay at a few really great hostels. I was a little anxious about this at first, as I had never stayed in one before, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Local Charm and Comfort

Going in, I had a few misconceptions about my choice of lodgings, such as: they are dirty, not well maintained and have a very sterile environment. All of these proved to be false.

While I can’t account for all hostels, the ones I stayed in were very clean, well-cared for, and in fact were better than some hotels I’ve stayed in! All were very comfortable and homey with their own unique charm.

How Hostels Keep Your Belongings Safe

I was also under the impression that they would be unsafe, and my personal belongings would surely be stolen. Wrong.

Each traveler gets a locker for their valuables such as laptops, iPhones, etc.

TIP: Remember to bring a lock, they aren’t always provided.

There also seems to be an unwritten code among hostel guests, “You don’t touch what isn’t yours”. I never had a sense that I wasn’t safe or that I had to worry about any strange-looking people lurking about the hallways. (I’m sure I looked strange enough in my socks and sandals…a story for another time).

Can You Find Privacy in a Hostel?

Lastly, I thought about privacy. I mean, come on, how private can these places possibly be? Well that depends on how much privacy you really need. There were quiet areas where you could go relax with a book or look over the pictures you had taken that day, and there were common areas, where everyone gathered and chatted with friends or made new friends.

Sleeping in a Hostel

The dorms or sleeping areas, were just that, sleeping areas. Nobody partied or stayed up chatting. When it was time for the lights to go out, they went out and people settled in and went to sleep. Now and then you would see the glow of someone’s phone, but once tucked into your bunk it was quiet and comfortable.

Speaking of quiet, if you are a light sleeper, bring earplugs. If you know you snore, be courteous and try nose strips that help alleviate snoring. In one place I stayed, a guest talked in his sleep and scared me half to death. It wasn’t just talking, it was shouting. Once I realized what was happening, I put my earbuds in, turned on some soothing music and slept like a baby.

What About the Bathrooms in a Hostel?

Shared bathrooms were another of my concerns. And by shared I mean boys and girls using the same one. I had to quickly get over my prudish American mentality and suck it up…I was indeed going to have to share a bathroom. Fortunately all had full, locking doors. No one can come barging in on you while doing your thing.

The showers were also shared but private. It was sort of like camping, but indoors. I did catch a glimpse of a young man walking down the hall in a pair of flip flops and tight jockey shorts, but it didn’t bother him, so why should it bother me? And honestly, why should it bother me? We’re all made the same, we’re all human beings.

Save Loads of Money When You Stay in a Hostel

All-in-all hostels aren’t for everyone. If you’re traveling with young kids, probably not for you. But if you’re by yourself or a small group, they are an economical way to travel to places that can be costly to visit.

The most expensive place I stayed was $23.00 per night! I mean come on…that’s crazy cheap.

Also, not every hostel I stayed in was as fabulous as the ones pictured here, but they were all clean, centrally located and run by very friendly and knowledgeable staff. All offered free coffee and tea. Some offered a continental breakfast for $1.50, and all offered full kitchens where you could cook your own meals.

So if you’re planning a trip abroad and having a hard time budgeting the big three – airfare, hotel and food – seriously consider a hostel.

Resources for Planning a Hostel Stay

Do some research, there are many great sites online to help narrow down the choices. www.hostelworld.com is great and is also a booking engine. Trip Advisor is also a really good resource.

However you decide to go…always know before you go…and just travel.

Guest contributor Denise Muecke has been in the travel industry for over 10 years. Her agency, Just Travel, is full service ~ from cruise to weekend getaways, focusing on the road less traveled. Click here to visit the Just Travel website and start planning your next adventure!

Denise is also the expert we turn to when we need to Ask an Agent!

What to Bring When You Stay in a Hostel

Earplugs or noise-cancelling earbuds

Padlock

Breathe-right strips if you snore

Regular toiletries

Towel/Wash cloth (I recommend a large chamois, takes up less room in your luggage and dries quickly.)

Shower shoes

Change/coins in local currency if the place you’re staying offers a laundry facility

More Travel Tips from goinformed.net

55 Things To Know Before You Visit Disney World

33 Things to Know Before You Visit Universal Orlando

What I Learned After My Refrigerator Destroyed My House: How to Prevent Water Damage In Your Home When You Go On Vacation

This post contains affiliate links.

The Informist – Your Monthly Dose of Adventure

Want more great travel tips and inspiration? Join the goinformed.net mailing list to receive our monthly Informist newsletter! Click here to sign up.

Click here to view past issues of the Informist.

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The post Try a Hostel for Your Next Vacation appeared first on Go Informed.

A year ago I sat on a flight from Florida sketching out a word cloud of Universal Orlando touring tips. Returning from my third visit to Orlando’s parks in four years, I was now the expert among my friends. Frequently asked for advice, I spent a lot of time writing long emails describing the line-hacks my daughter and I had developed. And I loved doing this – it gave me the chance to imagine being there again.

I’d long toyed with the idea of posting this wisdom to a more permanent place in cyberspace, but had no idea how to do it, or whether anyone would ever read it. But I liked my word cloud and knew I could expand upon it to help others plan their trip to Universal. As I did the research I realized I really could start a website.

A year later, over 6500 visitors have read the post based on that word cloud – 33 Things To Know Before You Visit Universal Orlando . Within a few months I had also posted advice about Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, Hawaii, and Bonaire. Then we had a major flood in our house and I stopped writing for six months.

When I returned to goinformed.net, to my great surprise and delight, most of my articles popped up in the top of Google’s search rankings. I guess it turns out I do have advice people want to read!

As the New Year arrived, I set a resolution to bring more magic into the world, and it’s my intention to share more wonderful experiences with you, so you can go out there and make the most of your vacation.

As I reflect on the progress goinformed.net has had this year, a few words of thanks are in order. Thank you to my husband, Frank, and daughter, Luna, for sharing all these adventures with me. Thanks to all of you who have read my posts. And thank you to my virtual teachers, among them Pat Flynn, Jeff Sieh, Shannon Albert, and Ralph & Carol Lynn Rivera, who provide incredible wisdom and encouragement to those of us working to figure out this online world.

I too have some wisdom to share, to pay it forward to my fellow internet content providers (that’s fancy talk for “bloggers”). Next time you visit a website and find useful information, a great recipe, or some hack that makes your life just a little better – all for free – here are three things you can do to thank the person who posted that awesome content.

The 3 C’s of Webpage Gratitude

Comment

I know it isn’t always easy, but if you take the time to leave a comment on a website you will absolutely make someone’s day. Comments on blog posts are really rare, so we notice when you do it. It is so gratifying to know someone is reading our posts, and if you like what you read or have something to contribute, this is a wonderful way to reach out and say thanks.

Connect

Almost every website has a social media presence. If you like what you’re seeing on the site, look for a link to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest – then go over there and follow the site. Goinformed.net is on Facebook and Pinterest, and I love to connect with readers through these more active and interactive venues. You can also share a post to your favorite social media site and help spread the word to your friends.

Click

See any ads on the site where you just found the most amazing information ever? Take a second and click one. No, you don’t have to buy anything. Many sites get paid for each ad click (often only a few pennies a click), so your tiny action can help support the site and keep everything going.

Most importantly, keep reading! I’m so happy to have the chance to share my thoughts with all of you. Without an audience this would just be a complicated high-tech diary. Thank you for sharing part of your day with me – I can’t wait to bring more magic to you in this next year!

~ Maven

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The post Blogaversary: Reflections from my first year of blogging appeared first on Go Informed.

Something wasn’t right. The house smelled wrong and a strange sound was coming from the kitchen. Luna stepped further inside. Then she saw it. A huge puddle in the middle of the kitchen floor, water shooting from somewhere behind the refrigerator. Quickly she moved down the stairs to reach the main water shut-off, but as she reached the basement she confronted the real catastrophe. Beneath the kitchen the ceiling had collapsed, water pouring through the hole like a waterfall. Desperately cranking closed the water shut-off valve, she rushed upstairs and called 911.

When we arrived home minutes later, a hook-and-ladder truck was parked in front of the house. Firefighters were inside trying to get some of the water out. They assured us that the structure was ok, that we could have the power on, and advised us to call our insurance company and a good disaster mitigation team. In the blink of an eye, what had been a relaxing weekend away had turned into six months of disaster recovery and reconstruction.

Throughout the rebuilding I knew I’d write a post about this, at least one. In the aftermath we found out there were lots of things we could’ve done to prevent the disaster from happening, or at least to minimize the damage. So here it is: What I Learned After My Refrigerator Destroyed My House.

Prevent a leak before it starts. Add these things to your pre-vacation checklist

Shut off the water to your house, and drain the pipes

This may sound drastic, but it will keep your house from flooding. Take away the water and there’s no pressure on weak points in your system. And even if something does break there’s no water to flood through. Removing the water from your pipes also keeps them from freezing, another big cause of flood damage.

Just before you lock the door for your vacation, turn off the water at your home’s main water supply shut-off. Then flush the toilets and turn on a faucet in the lowest part of the house. Let the water run dry before you leave.

If you need water running in the house, for pets or plants, turn off the valves to the toilets, faucets, washing machine, and refrigerator.

Maybe you never noticed, but all of these things have their own little shut-off valves. And while you’ll still have water in the big pipes in your house, these are much less likely to fail than a faucet or refrigerator line. Only leave the water on for the one faucet that will be used for your plants or pets. Click here to find out how to locate and turn off these valves.

Check for leaks

A few weeks before your trip scrutinize areas under sinks and around the water heater to make sure you don’t already have a leak somewhere. According to the American Water Works Association, a leak of 30 drips per minute totals up to nearly five gallons in a day. Imagine if you took five milk jugs right now and poured them out on your hardwood floor, then left that liquid for a week. Then someone came along tomorrow and added five more jugs to the pool. Trust me, this could be your reality. If you find a leak, get it fixed right away.

Have Someone Check On Your House

The monstrous damage our house sustained suggests the leak went unchecked for days. If someone had discovered the deluge sooner we would’ve saved thousands of dollars in damage and blunted the heartbreak of blindly returning home to a disaster.

Whether you turn the water off or not, have a friend or neighbor go into your house every couple of days. Make sure they know where your main water shut off is located. And give them a local emergency contact in case something does go wrong.

Hire a Housesitter

If you want true piece of mind, find someone to stay in your house while you’re away. Not only will this defend against pressure build-up in your pipes, but if something breaks or leaks you will have a helpful person right there to respond. Ask friends and family for a recommendation, or see if someone you know would be willing to housesit.

Invest in a water sensor system

Increasingly, there are technological solutions to help prevent devastating water damage to your home. From water sensors that send an alarm when they get wet, to automatic shut-off systems that stop water flow; many options exist. In the next few months we will be investigating this topic – look for a future post with more in-depth analysis and advice.

More Ways You Can Minimize the Effects of a Flood

Make sure everyone in your family knows where the water shut-off valve is located and how to use it.

See the “What Is A Water Main Shut Off” infographic above. Then go find your water shut-off valve.

Keep Your Stuff In Plastic Storage Bins

Even if everything goes wrong and your house fills up with water, you can still protect your possessions with plastic storage bins. We lost a lot of belongings in our flood but my grandmother’s photos survived untouched. Even though they were directly under the breach, effectively at the bottom of a waterfall, inside their plastic storage bin was perfectly dry.

What was not in a plastic bin was my laptop and several other valuable electronics, and only my laptop survived (thanks to a heroic rescue from our local computer shop). If it’s small and can easily be stashed when you leave, put your laptop, tablets, and other sensitive gear in a safe or at least in plastic. This makes it harder for burglars to find too.

Get a safe

A safe is good policy even if you don’t have a flood. It can protect sensitive documents and electronics from water, fire, and theft. If you invest in a safe, get one big enough to hold your laptops and tablets. And don’t forget to stash everything in there before you go on vacation.

Double-check your insurance coverage

If it’s been awhile since you’ve reviewed your homeowner’s coverage limits, be sure you aren’t underinsured. With reconstruction costs often topping those from fire, water can damage everything from your furnace to wood floors to walls to the actual structure of your house. Make sure your policy will cover the full cost if you have a disaster.

Know what to do if you have a flood

Click here for my six essential things to do if you come home to a flood.

For more flood prevention tips and information, visit my Water Damage Prevention board on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/goinformednet/water-damage-prevention/

Do you have other suggestions for preventing a flood? Please share in the comments below.

I usually post about way more fun things.

Read about theme park vacations here.

Or read about the tropical island of Bonaire here.

Or how about a visit to a seahorse ranch in Hawaii?

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The post What I Learned After My Refrigerator Destroyed My House: How to Prevent Water Damage In Your Home When You Go On Vacation appeared first on Go Informed.