The Travel Show: The Gelwix Family Special

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru,
and we have a holiday special edition unlike anything that
you've ever heard before. The Gelwicks Family is in studio.
I don't know if I'll lose my job over this.
We have no idea what they're gonna say. I'd like
to welcome to the show the lovely and talented Queen

(00:24):
of the day, my lovely wife, Kathy.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you very much. We're calling it the Gelwicks Family Follies.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
We are, we are, and again this is not scripted.
We don't know how it is. Kathy and I have
five wonderful children. They're all married, they're doing well. They've
blessed us with thirteen grandchildren. Three of them are here today.
I want to introduce Jenny Hey, Sarah the favorite child,
and Keaton that's debatable, also known as Keith Wheaton. Come

(00:54):
on now, Okay, So we've put this holiday special together
and the kids are well traveled. Kathy's been to one
hundred and five countries. I've been to one hundred and seventeen.
We're going to talk all about travel, and at some
point during the show, I'll give you the phone number
if you want to call in and ask Glwick's family

(01:15):
any of the questions that you may have, or just
make a comment about a wonderful experience you've had with
our family. Are well. If you've had a bad one,
keep your thoughts to yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
There may be no calls in.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Thank you very very much. Hey, I want to remind
you that coming up next month is the Utah Travel Expo,
the biggest, the best travel show expo anywhere in the
Inner Mountain West. It's now in its thirtieth year. Sponsored
by Morris Columbus Travel Now. The show is in Saint

(01:51):
George on Wednesday, January twenty first at the Hilton Garden Inn,
and in the Salt Lake area Friday and Saturday, January
twenty third and twenty fourth at the Mountain America Expost
Center in Sandy. This Salt Lake show brings together over
one hundred travel vendors airlines, cruise lines, safari companies, resorts, hotels,

(02:15):
tour companies and all things travel. Last year we had
one hundred and seven and this year we're gonna have
even more. Saint George is about half that number because
of the constraints of how big the ballroom is at
the Hilton Garden Inn, but all the major travel vendors
will be there in Saint George. You know what's really

(02:35):
nice about this, Kathy, you have actually worked the Utah
Travel Expo with me. Is people can come in and
sit down one on one with the representatives of all
these travel companies and ask questions, take advantage of exclusive
expo discounts, attend information seminars, and get a dream vacation.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, I think one advantage is it's a very friendly place.
And if the one thing that's been said about the
Travel Expo is that Utahs are a great audience and participants.
They bring questions, they know what they're looking for, or

(03:21):
if they don't, they know the questions to ask.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
You know, every year I have various suppliers say, Larry,
the Utah Travel Expo is so different. I say, how
because they go to expos and shows all over the country,
And they say, it's the people that attend. They ask
intelligent questions. They have things written down. Now, Keaton, Sarah
and Jenny, you have brought your children which are in

(03:47):
their younger years. Sarah your eldest and Jenny your eldest
is ten. And then they go down from there. The
kids love the expo, well.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
They love it because of all the flat they get.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yeah, we can Like Christmas morning.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
They get a bag and they're just filling it full
of candy and free page.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
I have like five travel Thailand mugs.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Well and Jenny and Sarah, your oldest will just run
off together. They're just gone and then they come back
with bags full of stuff.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I'm a great parent.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
It really is fun. Now. The Travel Show is a
ticketed event. If you will get information addresses times at
Utah Travel Expo dot com. That's Utah Travelxpo dot com.
Then on the homepage it says get tickets Saint George
Get tickets SLC. So if you click on it, all

(04:39):
the Saint George tickets are free. There is a cost
from two dollars to three dollars. Kids seventeen and under
are always free in Salt Lake. And I've got a
special a special gift for all of our listeners. I'm
going to tell you how to get free tickets to
the Salt Lake event. Simply go on to Utah Travel

(05:01):
Expo dot com, click on get tickets SLC and you'll
see like adults are three dollars, is a military discount,
a senior citizen discount, all of that, and then zero
cost for kids. Will you click on Let's say I
want two adults, so I click on the adults. I
click too, and it says, yeah, six bucks. However, down

(05:25):
on the left hand side, it says have a discount code.
Type in free and then click on apply code. Bam,
all your tickets are free. Now this is for travel
show listeners. Print as many tickets as you want, give
them to your friend and family. And Jenny, did I
mention free travel giveaways at the expo? Thank you very much.

(05:51):
I do like coupons, especially at Delta Airport, free parking
coupons your inheritance anyway, that every hour major travel awards
are going to be given away. Free international tickets courtesy
of Delta Airlines, free domestic tickets, free cruises, hotel. Well,

(06:15):
I keep asking, is it going to cause some concern
when I draw my own name out of that? Every
single time? Someone is going to win these prizes, and
it may as well be you. Well, aren't we grateful
for the snow that's finally come? The skiers are happy.
We're seeing major delays at airports around the country, but

(06:38):
not at salt Lake City International. And did you know
that Salt Lake International Airport has just been rated as
the best number one airport in the United States and
the number eight best airport in the entire world thanks
to punctuality. The new terminal salt Lake Internationals scored the

(07:01):
top spot. There's a group called air Help that rates
airports and they look at everything from concessions, delays, the
friendliness of the staff, the layout, and Salt Lake was
ranked as the number one. And there's flight records, government

(07:22):
statistics over thirteen thousand airport reviews that focus on the staff, cleanliness,
wait times, all of these things. And congratulations to the
Salt Lake Airport for coming in number one.

Speaker 6 (07:39):
Can I had a fun fact that you told me
about the airport and their consions with.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
No no, oh, yeah, I was gonna mention this, okay.

Speaker 6 (07:45):
I think it's really interesting. And street pricing, the street pricing,
you just took.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Away her story, Keaton, that's right. What's the matter with you.

Speaker 6 (07:53):
With the McDonald's thing. I thought that was really interesting.
You told me that when we went to Disneyland.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, a few weeks. That is. Street pricing is like
a Cafe Rio or something else whatever they charge in
town for that Cafe Rio, burrito or the burger King,
whatever it is they charge at the airport. You know,
usually you see a fifty cent hot dog at seven
to eleven that's been maybe rolling on the grill for months,

(08:23):
but it's five ten dollars out at the airport. And
so when they airport took bids from concessionaires, McDonald's put
in application. Salt Lakes the only major airport was no McDonald's,
which I ate at this morning with my Saturday morning
egg McMuffin and diet coke. But they said mcdone yes,

(08:46):
a kind of swear of good food. McDonald said that
they can't do it. They want to charge higher prices.
And to the credit of the Salt Lake International Airport,
they said, thank you, no, thank you. There is a
burger King out there, and you can get other burgers
at Wasatch Pub and these different places. Anyway, congratulations to that.

(09:09):
So what we've got about one minute till break, But
I want you to be thinking about some of your
favorite family travel experiences, both now as adults and as
young kids. Why it was so much fun? You know,

(09:30):
one thing that I did that. I recommend that all
fathers do. Is you know, Kathy traveled, of course with
the family almost all the time. But I would take
you kids for a four day weekend or a two
week trip to Japan, which we did. Let moms stay home.
It's her break.

Speaker 7 (09:51):
Oh and she did need it at times.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
You know.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
But I never understood what you did. We take off,
you could go to the spa a massage clause. I
kind of ruined that.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Sorry, that sounds like work.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yeah, it's less worse. So I'd like to talk about
some of the most memorable trips and why I would say.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
As I am a parent now, I don't remember what
I got when I was fifteen for Christmas, but I
remember when I turned fourteen and my dad took me
to London. Yeah, I think as a parent now, thinking
of experiences instead of just gifts, I think is something
I always remember.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
Well, all that and more on today's Travel show. You
don't want to miss a special holiday edition of the
Gelwicks Family. Welcome back to the I wish you could

(10:55):
see what's going on in the studio. Kathy is sitting
there very very dignified. The other kids are literally dancing
in the studio Larry Gelwick's The Getaway Guru with a
special holiday edition of the travel show with the Gelwick's
Family with Jennifer and Sarah and Keaton. What's that Hey?

(11:18):
Would you like to give a shout out to your kids? Jenny,
why don't you start? Usually don't get to go first.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Just ignored? Hey, Milo and Brooks. I hope you're.

Speaker 6 (11:29):
Listening and coming up with a new place to go
this year.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
N Sterley and Diane is Sterling and Diane listening down
on kat x you and Saint George. We hope so, Sarah.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Hello children, I hope you're being good. Listen to your father.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
That'll be a first.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Hey, Azzie, Havannah, George.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
I love you, Keaton, Libby, Penny and l I love
you guys. I hope you're listening. And Sam you are
the love of my life and I love you so much.
Oh sweet, Sorry, I have the best marriage.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
This was a love letter.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Hey, listen what I asked you before the break Just
a memory of a childhood trip, either as a teenager,
an adult or a young child, and the memory of
that trip and what made it so special? Keaton, I
have I have two Thank you Keaton.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Sarah, that's good. We don't want to.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
We don't want to know you're trying to make up
for the fact that I am your favorite.

Speaker 5 (12:28):
I remember as a kid we went to Kawhi to
a really, really nice resort. They had a really nice pool,
was on the beach, and Jenny still has a photo
of me sitting in a lounge chair with my legs,
you know, relaxingly crossed, and I am holding a Hamburger
patty nothing. I think it was about eight years eight,
nine years old and I'm just eating the pack. That

(12:50):
was such a fun trip. We had a surprise party
for Sarah on that trip.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
I don't remember.

Speaker 5 (12:54):
Yeah, we had a surprise party because it was over
your birthday, but we did invite you.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
We didn't invite you.

Speaker 3 (12:59):
It wasn't okay.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
I have to the trip to England when I was
fourteen with my dad and we were able to go
visit some places that my great grandfather lived in Low.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Co And then this is in the south of England.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yes, that's where I got my accent.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
And then our Rhine River Crew in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
That was epic, Jenny, I have a lot.

Speaker 6 (13:32):
I think one is I think I was like eight,
and we went to England and we went shopping for
Laura Ashley dresses.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh yeah, they're on Bond Street.

Speaker 6 (13:40):
And that was the same trip that I locked my
older sister out of the room. I fell asleep and
she couldn't get back in the hotel room.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
Okay, let me tell let me tell the story. How
old were you? I think I was like eight, and
so Emily would have been about ten years old or
something like that. So I had a meeting. It was
just a half hour, like two blocks away from the hotel.
That's a great, thank you, And I just said, I
turned the television on. I'd fed them dinner. I said,

(14:11):
do not answer the door. I have a key, but
I had to attend this meeting that lasted twenty thirty
minutes with a local tour operator. I come back. I
come back and Emily is laying down sleeping outside the door,

(14:32):
and I'm going, what is this? So we opened it,
I asked Jenny, And Jenny says that she and Emily
heard that there was somebody outside that probably had a
bazooka lovely children, and so Jenny talked Emily into going

(14:55):
out to see if there was some burglar or something
with a bazooka with a bazuka and then Emily is
pounding undre and let me back in, and you fell
asleep inside. I come back. I I go down and
raise Caine with the front hotel because Emily had walked

(15:15):
down inner nightgown to the hotel lobby, to the front
desk and said, I'm locked down. She even knew the room,
but they asked for her id. She's ten years old.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, but where were you at the club?

Speaker 1 (15:29):
I was at the pub. I have another good one
real quick.

Speaker 5 (15:35):
The Sugar Bowl we went to when when the Utes
played al Alabama.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
That's one of my favorite memories of all time. Kathy,
a memory of travel with the children.

Speaker 3 (15:48):
At home.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Sarah, can I just explain to our audience there is
something very distinct in our family known as Gelwick's humor.
You don't get it, and I'll tell you it is
totally beyond me. I don't have the blood ties to

(16:11):
the Gelwick's humor. Sarah, at age sixteen, went to an
afternoon activity with a couple.

Speaker 7 (16:19):
Of my aunts, my mother.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
We were as she walked out and Sarah said, Mom,
you are funny. Now, mind you she's sixteen years old.
Larry never thought I was funny, so he would never
laugh at me. But I cannot do the Gelwick's humor.
It tends to be the same thing.

Speaker 7 (16:40):
Over and over. It's funny and over again.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
And that's why you're not invited on the trip.

Speaker 5 (16:44):
That's true, Sarah, No, it's just rapid fire.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Who can get to the jokes the quickness? Yeah, who
can blame him?

Speaker 7 (16:52):
Raise their voice loud enough, that's right.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
You know. One of my favorite memories is taking you
kids to Disneyland a week or two before your second birthday.
Why And it was just you and me and we
go down. Well, the air ticket was free, I could
take you.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
We knew he was our last child, and I said,
I'm going the whole time.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
I was very young with Keaton. It's really like playing baseball.
You get a few strikes and a foul ball. No,
you finally got it right, so you stop. Okay, a
lot of fun there now when we come back. Jenny
is the ultimate Disney File. She loves all things Disney.

(17:40):
I've actually had her on the show before talking about
Disney advice. This is really good stuff with your kids,
your grandkids. So when we come back in our next segment, Jenny,
I'd like you to talk about Disneyland and that I
went with you and your two boys earlier this month
and we talked about how Disneyland. Yeah, it's expensive, but

(18:05):
it is so worth it. It's a different type Why
is it a different type of experience?

Speaker 6 (18:11):
I had an experience for the whole family and you
if you can go and kind of escape everything, which
is really you know, something.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
Like six Flags or Lagoon is great rides. Disney takes
me back to my childhood. All that more on today's
special edition of The Travel Show. Welcome back to the
Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get away Guru. The

(18:39):
Travel Show is sponsored every week by Morris Columbus Travel.
We always travel more and pay less. Check out their
website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot com. Now, if
you have a favorite Morris Columbus travel advisor, you probably
have his or her direct life that bypasses all the

(19:02):
automated systems and goes right to their desk. If you
don't have a favorite Morris Columbus travel advisor, call eight
hundred triple nine forty six forty six. That's eight hundred
triple nine forty six forty six. This is a special
Gelwick's Family edition of the Travel Show. And you know,

(19:23):
we haven't decided how it's going quite yet, but I'd
like to welcome my lovely wife, Kathy and three of
our wonderful children. We have Jenny, Sarah and Keaton with
us talking about travel. They're well traveled now. Jenny is
the ultimate lover of Disney, all things Disney. In fact,
she's wearing a Disney sweatshirt right now. Kathy is wearing

(19:48):
a very special sweatshirt that I gave her with Mickey
and Minnie on it. All Things Disney.

Speaker 7 (19:56):
Jenny, you actually picked out clothing for me?

Speaker 1 (20:00):
No wonderful. What can I say? I'm such a romantic
We all laugh. Jenny, once or twice a year you
go to Disneyland with your husband, Brandon and Milo and Brooks.

(20:20):
Milo's ten, Brooks is seven.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
Doesn't know where he is right.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Now, Cilencio, Uh, anyway, what advice do you have? Let's
talk about uh, you know, going with teenagers. Basically you
turn them loose and say meet us at the hotel
or meet us at main Street. But will you with
smaller children. What are some of the best advice that

(20:44):
you have with grandkids or with children small kids for
a visit to Disneyland.

Speaker 6 (20:50):
Okay, I just like to start by saying, I'm not
like a Disney adult, and I know a lot about
going to Disneyland, but I'm not like a trivia person.
So if you ask me things, I don't know a
lot of that stuff I can't remember.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
But what city is Disneyland?

Speaker 3 (21:05):
I know that.

Speaker 6 (21:06):
Okay, saying that there's a lot of people that know
more than me.

Speaker 3 (21:09):
This is just I go along.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Stop it, Jenny, serious, answer the question.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
We'll get very sensitive about stuff.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
So I'm just I'm a sensitive guy.

Speaker 6 (21:17):
So we've talked a couple of times with John Potter
about some other kind of like the basics.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
John Potter, of course, is one of the travel advisors
in the Boundiful Office. He has another Disney He.

Speaker 6 (21:29):
Knows the trivia. But some of the things that we
haven't got to that I thought I would mention. One
of the big things is I would highly recommend taking
a stroller. Even we have a double bob stroller and
my ten year old loves to sit in it at Disneyland.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
That's a lot of walking, there's a lot of.

Speaker 6 (21:45):
Complaining, and I would recommend bringing one and then you
can rent them there, but to have it to and
from your hotel, especially if it's a longer walk, it's
really really nice to have.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
And the kids generally fall asleep in.

Speaker 7 (21:57):
It well, especially late at night you probably have to carry.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
You love it.

Speaker 6 (22:01):
And if you if you get in line, if you
go early and get a good spot for the parade,
you can have your because the first row can sit,
but you can also have your your stroller behind.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
You, and then they have options to sit and they
can be high. You nap in it. I have from
time to time.

Speaker 6 (22:15):
I also would recommend they're twenty dollars, but getting a
balloon and we tie our balloon to our stroller because
there's four million strollers at the park.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
And they're all black and they often move the strollers.
Where you park one is generally not where you.

Speaker 6 (22:30):
Will find it when you come back, and so if
you have a balloon tied to it, it makes it
so much easier to find. And then on our last
day we take our boys and we have our boys
find somebody to give their balloon too, because we can't.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
What about food because Disney food, all amusement park food
is expensive.

Speaker 6 (22:48):
Yeah, so I'm the type that you can. You can
totally bring your food into the park.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
I've seen people no glass bottles.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
I've seen peoples of bread.

Speaker 6 (22:57):
They make sandwiches and all of that stuff. I to
save up enough that we can just eat there. I
would highly recommend doing a character breakfast. They are quite expensive.
They range from so much fun see five dollars per
adult to sixty nine and I never eat that much food.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
It's an experience, though, but it's.

Speaker 6 (23:16):
An experience and you get and the characters come around
multiple times, and the kids get to interact with them
more than they would waiting in a line at the parks,
and the food is really good. Storyteller's Cafe in the
Grand Californian is my favorite. And also they don't let
you in there anymore without a reservation for either a
room or for a meal.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
So it's nice to be able to Well.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
Let's talk about where you stay. Everybody likes to at
Grand Californian, but that's seriously six seven, eight hundred dollars
a night, and you're in the park oday. You have
the Disneyland Hotel, which is very expensive. You have an
absolute jewel of a hotel that's a ten minute walk
from the park.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
Yeah, and we are.

Speaker 6 (23:58):
I am not sponsored by them, but I should be
because I've stayed there every time. We've been staying there
for twenty years. It's the best Western stowballs. It is
just down the street from the Grand Californian and.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Ten minute walk to the park. And they have a
full breakfast. It's like a full breast.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
And bacon like, it's like a full It's it's.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
A great value for what you're getting.

Speaker 6 (24:20):
And I can stay for four nights at that hotel
for one night at the Grand, which doesn't make sense
to me.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
You know one thing for our listeners, the best Western
stovevall And comes to the expo every year, and go
talk to them. It's and I'll tell you book early
because this year we went in. I went as her
husband Brandon could not get off work, so I went

(24:47):
with the two boys and Jenny and you booked it
like in January of this year, it was one hundred
and something dollars, and I checked it in the fall
it was two hundred and fifty dollars, So you will,
and so yeah, and so you want to book that
very very or early for that. And let's turn our

(25:09):
attention to what I think of the two greatest travel
values right now, which are cruises and the all inclusive
resorts in Mexico. You know, I love Hawaii. We've been
there as a family. But flat out, Hawaii is getting expensive. Now.
There are some ways to watch the cost, but yes,

(25:30):
it is expensive. Food is expensive, and the state of
Hawaii and their infinite wisdom, has just passed some massive
new taxes to raise one hundred million dollars off the tourists.
So it's going to get even more expensive. But I
think Hawaii is for me is an ultimate vacation. Keaton,
you have been to Mexico a number of times. You

(25:52):
love the all inclusive resorts? Why, I mean, what is
it about Mexico all inclusives that's so appealing? Well, I
think thinking about Mexico, is you touched on is the value?

Speaker 5 (26:02):
Like it's it's it's such an amazing place to be,
It's sunny, wonderful beaches.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
All that I particularly love.

Speaker 5 (26:09):
The Mexican all inclusive is my My wife and I
did our honeymoon at one and so they hold a
special place in my heart for that. But you want
to talk about your honeymoon, don't be gross. No, And
you've touched on this on many of your shows. But
there's different levels, different levels of Mexican all inclus is
really great ones, maybe not so good ones, so do

(26:29):
your research. But the food and the drink being all included,
you know what your cost is going to be. It's fantastic.
You can get as much food as you want. And
there's different types, Like if you want to go to
an all inclusive that's just for adults, they have those.
The ones for kids have so many activities they're going
to keep the kids busy all day, but also too,
like if you just want to sit on the beach
all day, have your peanut colada, have your nachos delivered,

(26:52):
whatever it is, you can do that.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
But they can also help you set up activities well.

Speaker 7 (26:56):
And it's also safe.

Speaker 5 (26:58):
Yeah, that's real. That's the other thing too. I remember
for our honeymoon and other times we've gone, never felt
in danger anything. It's very very safe. The staff is
so friendly, you get to meet lots of people. You
see the same people throughout the day, so you make
throughout the week, so you make friends and everything. It's
just it's such a wonderful experience and like you said,
you cannot beat the value of it.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Oh, it really is good. I'll give you a couple
of examples, and for our listeners. The all inclusive includes
your airfare, your round trip transfers from the airport to
the resort, your resort stay, all your meals, all your drinks,
all non motorized activities. You want a jet ski, you'll
pay for it. You want a little sunfish, sailboat or

(27:40):
a boogie board, anything that doesn't have a motor on
it is included, your tips and gratuities. You could literally
go without a peso and have a absolutely wonderful time.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
The transfer thing, though, I'll say, is really important too,
because if you haven't if you haven't come out of
a Mexican airport, when you come out, there are hundreds
of people trying to get you like the gauntlet, trying
to get you into a taxi or a shuttle, but
knowing you've got one set up with the resort, it
was a huge it was a huge piece of mind thing, and.

Speaker 6 (28:10):
You're like, oh no, I'm waiting for this person that.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
A lot of times you're like, no, that's me, that's me.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
I'm a person they tell me all that, like say
Delta Vacations, and as you're coming out, they'll say, you
know who's your transfer, Oh, Delta Vaca. Oh that's me,
And they want to get you in the car and
then charge you some exorbits Corolla. Let me give you
some examples. Morris Columbus Travel is the largest seller of
Mexico all inclusive resorts in the entire Inner Mountain West.

(28:38):
As a result, they have some very special and even
some exclusive rates. I've talked about the secret airfares. Those
are heavily discounted airfares. You cannot buy them directly from
the airline. They're with a handful of tour operators. Morris
Columbus Travel is one of the few, the only one

(28:59):
that I know that has its own airline contracts only
I know in Utah and Idaho. And of course it
allows a deep discompany that has to be bundled with something.
Let me give you a couple of examples. Now, I
was looking at oh March and then this spring to
can Kun at a four star the Catalonia Yucatan Beach

(29:22):
All inclusive in early May eleven fifteen, but you can
upgrade to a five star at the Catalonia Riviera Maya
for about sixty bucks more eleven seventy nine. Now keep
in mind that all rates and promotions are subject to
availability and change at the time of booking. You know, Kathy,

(29:45):
the biggest difference between a four star and five star
would be what.

Speaker 7 (29:51):
It would be the food, the foods.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
The resort, the ambiance, the service level. So why not
for six jump to a five star. Let's go to
port of Iras now I happen to love. Port of
Virus is my favorite resort down there on the Mali Khan.
The Church of Our Lady Guadalupe one of my favorite activities.
Go to Zono Romantica. How about that, Kathy, Oh, so

(30:18):
many languages in the Getaway Guru is fluent in all language.

Speaker 7 (30:22):
I could tell some stories about that.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
I bet you could. Anyway. One of my favorite restaurants
is the Margharita Grill, not Margueritaville, Margharita Grill. Down to
Porto Ayarte at a four star, that's a first class.
This is early March. It's still snowy and cold here
at the Sunscape Port of iart you ready for this.
These are six days, five nights. You can obviously stay

(30:45):
longer five and that is air, hotel transfers, meals, drinks, taxes.
If you want to upgrade to a five star, it
jumps about three hundred bucks per person. So you want
to give Morris Columbus a call. Mexico all inclusives along
with cruises are the two by a mile, the best

(31:09):
value that we have. And we come back. We have
more of the Gelwicks family traveling in the world right
here on the Travel Show. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(31:30):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru, and we are having
a lot of fun here a special holiday edition with
the Gelwicks family. They are well traveled ever since they
were little kids. We mentioned in the first segment or
in the last segment that cruising and Mexico all inclusives

(31:52):
are your best value. Let's talk a little bit about cruising.
You've all been to Alaska and that you know if
someone's going to go on a first cruise, I think
Alaska is a great choice. You're in the inside passage,
very unlikely that you're going to get seasick. You know,
because you have land on both sides of you except

(32:12):
for one day. We've talked about the two types of
Alaska tinners round trip Seattle and sailing from Seattle to Anchorage,
and they only differ in one day. And both of
them you get the inside passage and some number of
stops in Juno, Ketchikan, Skagway, Icy Straight, Sitka. You won't

(32:36):
get them all, but you will get some of them. Now,
what are your memories family and Kathy of Alasa? Kathy?
Why do you love? Will you and I go every year?

Speaker 2 (32:48):
Well, we go every year because you love the scenery.
This year we went up.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
To Denali, Denali on the North South, which was.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
New for us, and I thoroughly enjoyed the resort there.
It was just a nice extra time to sit and relax.
And I saw you relax because you didn't have a
big group.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, And we were with Princess. They took care of
the Denali. Kathy and I escort on Host and Alaska
Cruise every year. This coming year, twenty twenty six, it'll
be with Princess, sailing round trip from Seattle July twelveth
to the nineteenth on a brand new ship, the Star Princess. Right,

(33:38):
start at just eleven seventy four. That includes three hundred
and thirty dollars of taxes. Now, let me give you
a couple of memories and you can jump in. Jenny, Yes,
we were on I believe, on a cruise and I
believe it was Alaska. And you pointed to something on

(33:59):
this show ship.

Speaker 7 (34:00):
Oh, here it comes.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
And.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Well, what were you? How old were you in the world?
She was forty five. Okay, here's the deal. You know,
on the ship you have the life boats. But yeah,
after nine to.

Speaker 6 (34:20):
Eleven, listen to the story with a little bit of
background empathy.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Okay, so you see the lifeboats on the ship, and
then you see the rafts that are in these giant barrels. Capsules,
capsules you see on every ship. Jenny asked me what
are those capsules?

Speaker 7 (34:40):
And to this day again the Gelwicks humor.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, every time I go on a cruise, I send
her a photo of the cap I told her that
al Qaeda was operating submarines in Alaska and these who
were depth charges.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yeah, it was a very hard time.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
In Amatize anyway, and I said, we'll be saved. We're
going to be dropping depth churches on our kinda submarines,
and to this day, every cruise I send her a
picture anything. Okay. Now, Kathy, being the ultimate wonderful mother,
is looking out for their health and safety. I more

(35:21):
fly by the seat in my pants. So Keaton and
Sarah went to Alaska with me. Kathy just kept on
my case about make sure they eat healthy, make sure
they eat vegetables.

Speaker 7 (35:37):
On your case.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
I was like, twelve, all right, So we go there,
but Kathy's reminding me, uh to have him eat healthy
and so your vegetables, eat your vegetables.

Speaker 6 (35:52):
Call.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
The first day, Kathy asked me, and Keith's going. Oh,
they got so much food in the buffet. Kathy asked me,
did he eat any vegetables? And because he had said,
I had some pork chops, I had chick prime rib
I had prime ribs. And she says, well, Larry, did
Keaton have any vegetables? Well, of course he did. What

(36:16):
I what I didn't tell her is it fritch f
it is a potato.

Speaker 7 (36:21):
I knew it was.

Speaker 5 (36:23):
I have a diary from that trip where all I
wrote about was the food each day.

Speaker 7 (36:27):
In your food you are you are our carnivore.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
Heaton is a fabulous, debatable prepare of meat.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
She has a.

Speaker 7 (36:40):
Couple of smoker he does so well.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
Well, now is the time to book your twenty twenty
six Alaska even twenty twenty seven. As I said, Kathy
and I'll be hosting a cruise round trip from Seattle
July twelve to nineteen. We'll visit catch you can, We'll
have glacier viewing Juno Skagway, Victoria, British Columbian back to Seattle. Now,

(37:10):
many people have said, Larry, the prices seem a bit
higher than they did last year, And I said, well,
that's true. But if I said you, folks, twenty twenty six,
the peak of peak season July twelve to nineteen, you
could come with us on a brand new Princess cruise

(37:32):
liner for eight hundred and forty four dollars plus tax,
you would jump at it. See last year they did
not require the cruise lines to include the taxes. Alaska
is heavily taxed three hundred and thirty dollars, so the
price eleven seventy four includes the three hundred and thirty

(37:53):
meeking a cruise fair is eight forty four. Contact foris
Columbus Traveler Joined Cafe and I us get stay tuned
for our number two of the Travel Show, the best
two hours in the radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get
away Guru. The Travel Show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel.

(38:14):
Will you always Travel More and pay Less? Check out
their website at Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morris Coolumbus dot com.
And don't forget the Utah Travel Expo, the thirtieth annual
Utah Travel expos sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, is Wednesday,
January twenty first in Saint George at the Hilton Garden

(38:37):
Inn and in the Salt Lake area Friday and Saturday
January twenty third and twenty fourth at the Mountain America
ExpoCenter and Sandy. For all details, go to Utah Travel
Expo dot com. That's Utah Travel Expo dot com. By
the way, I'm gonna I'm gonna take a real risk
here and open up the phone lines. If you have

(39:00):
a question for the Gelwicks family, you can direct it
to all of us or to me or Kathy, Sarah,
Jenny or Keaton. We know all the secrets, that's right, one.
Let's see triple eight five sevenh eight oh one. Oh
that's eight eight eight five seventy eighty ten. And we'd

(39:22):
love to hear from you. Maybe you've traveled with some
of my kids and you're still you're still recovering. Maybe
you've traveled with me and you're still recovering. But a
lot of fun. You know, you gotta have fun. Now
I'm thinking about a trip that was so memorable. We
like to go to southern Alberta to Waterton for family reunions. Beautiful,

(39:45):
my mother, her family is all from southern Alberta. I
actually have dual citizenship in both the US and Canada.
I have two passors, kind of like the born identity,
without the money, the guns, all about the physical ability.
Thank you very very much. So we are going to Waterton.

(40:08):
We pack our suitcases and everything. We pack everything sounds
like everything, okay, So we packed everything and the van
is just packed. But we had one big heavy box.

(40:30):
It was it anyway, we piled the family and told
Jenny that she had to hold this box on to.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
A box that was up to my.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Head, I know. And we're going to drive to Canada
from Salt with this giant box that we.

Speaker 7 (40:51):
Did not handle it well, just.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Whining and moaning about our trip, complaining, And so we
take off and we go out to the airport and
park we were flying to Canada. We didn't tell her
I had.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
To carry a box to Canada.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Then the time we did drive to Canada, and I
told you kids that we would stop at every dairy queen.
But the only condition is at least one of you
had to be awake, and we like in Idaho Falls,
we stopped at two dairy queens and we did bypass
some because all of you were asleep. But it's it's
really fun, fun things to do.

Speaker 6 (41:35):
That same one we had that the giant the kitchen
TV with a VCR and we played.

Speaker 5 (41:39):
It and we had to watch Pokemon Pokemon the first movie.

Speaker 1 (41:44):
Kate, have I asked you about traveling with kids in
an autumnial?

Speaker 7 (41:48):
Can?

Speaker 2 (41:48):
I just interrupt to remember that van that dad rented
from rent Erect. They kept overheating and showing one hundred
miles an hour to get.

Speaker 7 (42:02):
To the airport.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
We need a new travel Agentine.

Speaker 5 (42:04):
Oh yeah, who have you called the agents at Morris
Columbus Travel?

Speaker 1 (42:08):
Oh wow, thank you Keaton? Uh you travel. You drive
to California off and down the ocean side and other
places with your three beautiful daughters, And what advice do
you have for traveling with young children in a car
for an extended trip. Don't do it.

Speaker 5 (42:31):
No, No, we have a lot of fun on our
road trips. I think one of the most important things
is just modify your expectation for drive time. You put
it in the GPS, Oh, ten hours, it's take it.
It's gonna take you twelve thirteen at best. Something that
Sam and I do, and Sam is particularly good at this,
but having multiple wife that is my wife having multiple

(42:54):
activities available, So an iPad, drawing pads, movies, games, books,
just lots of different things to occupy them. So they're
not Oh, you got to have a lot of snacks
more than you think, and have a cooler back.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Put some drinks in that. Yeah. Yeah, give them, give
them what they want.

Speaker 5 (43:14):
Something we like to do is play different games, Like
we have a game we play with their music service
where we cueue up songs but everyone gets to pick
one when we go in order.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
And the girls.

Speaker 5 (43:22):
Absolutely, Penny always do Taylor Swift. No, she's been into love,
she's been into share. Penny is four, yeah, four years old.

Speaker 7 (43:32):
She can about Taylor.

Speaker 1 (43:34):
Oh she does love Taylor. It's it's share Taylor, swift
and frozen. Now you're gonna stop at to refuel or
like a convenience store. You kind of turn them loose there.

Speaker 5 (43:46):
Yeah, like you don't need to go crazy, but make
it a fun experience at a gas station. Get them,
spoil them a little bit, get them, let them pick something,
Let them pick a couple of things. You don't have
to give them all the candy right then, because they
you know, they might throw up. And that's actually an
other one actually happened.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
Yes, it has.

Speaker 5 (44:03):
Make sure you've got like cleaning towels, rags, readily available,
extra clothes, if you've got kin diapers, extra diapers, more
than you think you'll need because you're you're taking it anyway,
Just make it readily available.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
For now, Kathy, when we'd fly with the kids, what
do we drug them with? Yeah, it was a different time,
Remember it was a different time.

Speaker 7 (44:29):
It was a different time with pediatrician approval.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I take a couple of swigs.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
I'm like, how did I sleep so well on planes
when I was a little And then you told me
just a couple of years ago, used to give us penetral.

Speaker 7 (44:43):
Well, can I just tell you that ADHD level in
this room is beyond.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
So I never had quiet demure children who were easily
in thralled with the book.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
You may excuse.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Yourself, but I was like the only dignified on that note.

Speaker 5 (45:10):
First, on that note about medication, we have a daughter
who gets very carsick. So we talked to a pediatrician.
They have dramamine for kids, and she she takes it.
She's wonderful, the easy way. No, it's it's it's so
helpful for her. One other thing that we have that's
been a huge help to us is a car potty.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
It's this. You can get them on Amazon, but they
fold up?

Speaker 6 (45:32):
Is it for you?

Speaker 5 (45:33):
Sometimes it has inserts? But nothing's worse. Every parent has
experienced this. We're at a gas station. Okay, kids, does
anyone need to go to the bathroom? No, No, we're good.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
We're good. It's five minutes later.

Speaker 5 (45:44):
I'm going to pee my pants, so we you know,
we can pull over, pop this thing out, then go
in it and we're good. So I think that's that's
a huge one to have. And then research your route
see if there's fun places to go to stop at.
Let the kids stretch their legs, that don't run around.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
In a fillmore. There's a Maverick that has a playground.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
The Beaver Creamery is a good one that we've stopped at. Well,
you know, when you kids were young, we go on
some of these road trips. We'd also take you to
a toy store. The young kids love running around a
toy store. I don't remember.

Speaker 7 (46:22):
I don't remember a lot of road trips.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Well, that's because you took the drama.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
You were the guy who would fly to Las Vegas,
rent a car and drive to Saint George because it
was shorter than driving to driving.

Speaker 7 (46:36):
I know, so we didn't do a lot of road trips.

Speaker 5 (46:39):
Well with the toy store thing, Actually, something Sam and
I have done is we'll go and buy surprises for
them dollar store toys, nothing, nothing crazy, but then give
it to them throughout the drive. So it's a it's
a fun new thing that they can I.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
Tell you what I futes when Dad and I would
take extended trips.

Speaker 7 (46:57):
Do you remember having a little toy to open?

Speaker 1 (47:01):
You remember?

Speaker 6 (47:01):
I remember one specifically because we would have it every
day and I've done this for my kids. But we
would wrap and wrap our present every day, and I
remember one was was it ninety two? It was a
puzzle of the Dream Team Basketball this day? It was
because you know, Stockton and Alone were on it, and
it was an awesome thing to get there.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
You go.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
But very good, now, Kathy, what you've traveled to one
hundred and five countries? What is your absolute favorite trip
of all time if you had the nar right down?

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Oh my goodness. First of all, I am totally spoiled
by river cruises. But the ultimate, pardon me, the ultimate
is the Christmas Market on the Rhine on a river.
I'm sorry, girls, you are never taking my place on

(47:56):
that one.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
The Christmas markets is a six under a year tradition
where every town, village, big city, small city completely loses
their mind with multiple outdoor markets.

Speaker 8 (48:09):
It's not.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
It's commercial, but it doesn't feel commercial. It's a really
wonderful way to start the Christmas season.

Speaker 7 (48:18):
They do that. The towns.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
Decorate everything and you you can have their their mold
wine or spysider.

Speaker 7 (48:32):
It's fabulous. You well, I need it some days.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
Hey, when we come back, I want to tell you
about the ultimate Christmas surprise that Kathy and I sprung
on our family just two days ago can arrests. Just
listen and you'll know. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(49:01):
I'm wear at Gelwicks to get Away Bluru a very
special edition, never to be forgotten, perhaps never to be
repeated edition of the Travel Show with the Gelwicks family.
Want to welcome my lovely wife Kathy and three of
our beautiful five children, Jenny, Sarah and Keaton. We've been

(49:23):
talking about travel. Now let me give you just how
travel operates in our family. At Christmas time in twoenty
twenty two, we gave the family the adults are five
married children and their spouses a Rhine River cruise with

(49:45):
Almah Waterways, which we took in the summer of twenty
twenty four.

Speaker 6 (49:51):
And that was crazy because you had never given us
no gift like that. He's been holding out on us.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
He was holding out on us, both of you.

Speaker 7 (50:00):
I had much to do with it anyway.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
I saw you your first river cruise. What was your experience? Oh,
my gosh, changing it was. It was incredible. What was
incredible about it?

Speaker 8 (50:15):
Kington?

Speaker 1 (50:15):
So I've been on a lot of ocean cruises and
not like ocean cruises.

Speaker 7 (50:18):
I love ocean come out so much anymore.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
That's true.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
It changed my expectation, but I kind of expected that,
you know, the waiting for a long time to get
on the boat for the first time, the security, No,
we walked right on, people met us.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Yeah, like you drop into these little.

Speaker 5 (50:36):
These towns you wouldn't be able to get to obviously
by a big cruise ship, but the staff knows you
by name. About the dining, oh my gosh, some of
the best food I've ever had on a vacation. And
it was by day two that I think they knew
what drinks people would want. They would be at our
tables ready.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
For us, and we drank Germany's entire like supply of
diet coke we might.

Speaker 5 (50:57):
Have and let's Sarah touch on like the food just thing.
But the food was fantastic, Like you're there with I
think we're there with one hundred and twenty.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
People, about one hundred and sixty. But it never it
never to your point, It never felt crowded.

Speaker 6 (51:12):
And I think too, I like ocean cruises, Biden really
sensitive to getting seasick, and I didn't feel that way.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Out oh at all. Well, let's take it a step forward,
because at Christmas twenty twenty four, so a year ago,
we gave the family a spring break cruise on Royal
Caribbean on the Navigator of the Seas, which is one
of my favorite ships, settled on a three or four

(51:41):
times round troop out of La Now, for most of
the Utah school districts, spring break is always Monday to Friday.
For twenty twenty six, not all, but most districts, it's
April sixth to the tenth, and so our kids attend
both the Granite and the Salt Lake district And that

(52:02):
was our Christmas gift. Now that'll be coming up in
almost a little over three months. What are you looking
forward to? Family? On that five day, four night we
sailed from port of La Catalena Island, some days at sea,
a stop in Mexico. What was your take on that?

Speaker 2 (52:23):
Well, Sarah, you did it. I did it with the
two boys and your dad. What did they just love about?

Speaker 3 (52:31):
I think I think there were seven. I took my
son and my nephew, my child, yes, and mine work.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
Let me set the stage for this. It was January
of twenty twenty three. Yes, I had a group of
one hundred plus on a one week Mexican Riviera cruise
Cabo porta Irtuan, Mazit Lawn. Kathy could not go, so
I invited Sarah and she brought her seven year old
son Oscar and Jenny's seven year old son Milo. Take

(53:00):
it away.

Speaker 4 (53:00):
I think with little kids, they're really enamored by the ship.
That I think was their most excited part to go on.

Speaker 3 (53:09):
The cruise options too. Yeah, and just the food, like
they did not stop eating the entire.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Time, all the ice cream.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
They could eat eight donuts and bacon and fries for breakfast.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
He's with Papa, of course.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
That's there's so much to do, Like they have activities.
They have a kid's club.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
So when I was they loved the kids club.

Speaker 4 (53:28):
When I was tired of being around them and needed
a break, I could send them to the kids club
and they could.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
Go there for a couple hours. And I think it's
a good balance.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Well, let's fast forward, Kathy. I'll let you spring the
news for Christmas twenty twenty five, we just two days
ago we had another surprise gift of travel for our family.

Speaker 7 (53:53):
Well, we gave them a box with two Macarons in it.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
A little French pastry, little cookies. Yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
Then Larry let that rest for fifteen or twenty minutes.
We ended up telling the adult we had.

Speaker 6 (54:11):
Suspicions, but yeah, because you guys have kind of set
a president next year will probably.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
Now what are we to do?

Speaker 7 (54:17):
I don't know, Larry.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Of course, they say, if you don't spend your money
now doing these nice things, your kids will after you're gone,
use your money anyway, So we are doing in twenty
twenty seven.

Speaker 7 (54:33):
The Sane River zand River out of Paris, round trip out.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
Of Paris, and by the way, it's with Alma Waterways,
the ultimate experience. And by the way, this is open
to the public. Now after this show, you may not
want to travel with our family, and we would understand.
We would understand, so seriously contact Morris Columbus Travel. What
we did is we bought half the ship, the ama Era,

(55:00):
which is a beautiful river cruise sailing round trip from Paris.
We'll visit Normandy the d Day landing Beaches on Floor
which is Gothic architecture, beautiful. One of my favorite shop
is Rowen that's Joan of Arc. You think you've stepped
back five hundred years. We'll visit Vernon, Les Andeles le

(55:22):
Hove June seventeen to twenty four, and maybe kids will
be the onboard entertainment.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
What do you think last time we went, I'm not
going to tell us.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
I'm not going to subject the passengers to that.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
We had a few people tell us we were a
little bit. Now you're just having thought. That's fair.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
No, it wasn't. To heck with them, off with their heads.
We'd love to have you join us on adventures on
the Sinne, Paris and Normandy and visiting the D Day
beaches in the American Cemetery is a sobering, sobering experience.
What it is we bought half the ship, We did

(56:01):
a part charter, we took half the boat, and our
prices literally are thousands of dollars less than what you'd
pay direct to armored waterways. We'd love to have you
join us. The selection of cabins is still very very good.
And again, if you have a question for the Gelwicks family,
give us a call at Triple eight five seven oh

(56:22):
eight oh one. Oh that's Triple eight five seventy eighty ten.
Hope to hear from you. Welcome back to the Travel Show. Yeah,

(56:48):
this is a special holiday edition of the Travel Show.
We'll be back to normal next week with the Gelwicks fans.
Normal Wirdo. I've got an excuded with me, my wife Kathy,
three of our five children, Jenny, Sarah, and Keaton, who
want to give a shout out to son Larry who's

(57:09):
here from Chicago visiting, and our eldest daughter Emily. The
latter two there couldn't make it, but we send our
love and best regards. Now, I want to tell you
we have been traveling forever. And I said before, I
think a good thing that fathers should do is pack
up the kids for three or four days a week

(57:31):
or more and just take off. Let moms stay home
and that is her vacation. That is her break from
running the family and all the pressures, particularly with small kids.
I want to take you back to June of nineteen
ninety one. Eldest son Larry was thirteen, Emily was eleven,

(57:55):
Jenny was nine and turning ten a few months later,
and Sarah was eight. Keaton was what about eight nine
months old? He was born in September of nineteen ninety
We're now in June of ninety one. So I packed
up these four kids, ages thirteen, eleven, nine and eight.

(58:17):
She was six, who was six. Sarah was six, Okay,
Sarah was six. So with us six year old, I
packed up these four kids and we went to Japan,
of all places, for two weeks and we traveled. We
rode the shinkansin or bullet train. We visited Tokyo Osaka Himiji.

(58:41):
I like him Meiji. It has the best preserved shogun castle.
We went to Tokyo Disneyland. We did so many things.
We saw the country and we you know, it was
just me. I remember having we think about it ages thirteen, eleven,

(59:03):
nine and six and what we found out A great
place to eat and you can do this even today
in Japan is the basement of department stores. They have
a food court, they have a grocery store. We would
pick up foods like a something like a charsousbao steam bunt,
and we didn't have a steamer, but we did have

(59:25):
a coffee maker that we would boil the water. In
the coffee maker. I put chopsticks across the top of
it to hold these steam buns, and then a hand
toowel on top of us. Yeah, daughter Emily decided she
wanted to sleep in the bathtub. I remember, so we

(59:45):
get blankets and she I don't know why. It was
just kind of fun, but I remember having this thought
and I sat some Larry down age thirteen. I said,
you know, if something were to happen to me, i'd
keel over, I get hit by a t DR something.
You kids are here in Japan by yourself, and so

(01:00:06):
we rehearsed. I had the instructions written out, here's how
you call home, and then I gave them the address
of the local LDS mission office. I figured they would
get some church members to come and help, and it
was very easy. Interesting. We memorized some fanatic phrases in Japanese.

(01:00:30):
Whatever country I visit that where English is not their
first language, I memorize a phrase or a word to
just get by people appreciate your trying. So, uh, dokodeska
in Japanese is where is this? You know? Ekwa Dokodeska
is where's the train? Say its benjua dokdeska, where's the toilet?

(01:00:55):
And the omizu kudasai. We'd go to restaurants. Can I
have some more water?

Speaker 7 (01:01:00):
It's practically fluent in all languages.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
Ask him about the time he called his wife Gorgita
instead of.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
Yeah, it's got my words mixed up there. Japanese has
three writing systems, hit a ghana, kanji, and Katakana. Now,
Kanji and katakana are more difficult. Hit a Ghana uses
the very simple shapes and forms. So I would have
a notepad, and in Japan restaurants will have a glass

(01:01:34):
case with beautiful plastic models of their menu, and the
kids would look at it. I'd write it down in
hit a ghana and simply hand it to the restaurant.
We ate at McDonald's once in two weeks and KFC

(01:01:56):
twice all the rest for Japanese restaurant. I mean, these
are wonderful memories. Now, I asked Sarah if she would
talk about an important issue in traveling if one has
food allergies.

Speaker 4 (01:02:14):
Yeah, I have Sillyac's disease, which means I can't have
gluten or wheat, and so traveling sometimes can be difficult.
And if you have a food allergy, you know that
there's a lot of anxiety around traveling because you don't
know what you can eat and you don't want to
get sick. So I wrote down kind of what I

(01:02:38):
do when I travel, and the biggest thing I think
you need to remember is to always have a plan,
and that includes research.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
So call ahead.

Speaker 4 (01:02:46):
If you're going to a resort, call ahead and see
if they can accommodate your dietary restrictions. And make sure
that you have safe food that you can eat, because
I've gone many places and gotten really sick and that sucks.
Always always always bring extra snacks always, you never know.

(01:03:07):
I remember we were in Florence and we were doing
like a day tour before we got on the cruise ship,
and it was the instruction before to get something quick
and easy in Florence, and that's just not possible for me,
So I had to have a protein bar and an apple,
you know, So always being prepared for that. Make sure

(01:03:27):
you bring more medication than you think you will need.
When I get sick, we call it being glutened, and
I remember being glutened on the flight home from Amsterdam
to Salt Lake City, and that was not pleasant for
any of us.

Speaker 3 (01:03:44):
Everyone was prime. Oh my gosh. We kept hearing about it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:49):
There's also some really cool apps that you can download
that can find safe places for you to eat pretty
much anywhere. And I remember on this last Rhyine River
cruise we found a gluten free bakery. I can't remember
if it was Germany or France, but I loaded up
on all of the things in the bakery. So if

(01:04:11):
you ever come across to safe options, grab a couple
just in case there's a day that you may not
have safe food.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Sarah, I want you to tell a story. You and
your husband are new A were with me in Rome
and we were driving to the cruise ship down in
Chivy Tevekia, and I got an interesting request from one
of our group members who wanted the bus to pull
into the ohs pull into the drive through at McDonald's

(01:04:44):
and she wanted to diet coke. And I said, you know,
we really can't do that, and she said, and I quote,
people are dropping like fly girl by.

Speaker 3 (01:04:54):
We're the Vatican. I don't know where McDonald's is.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
Yeah. And so then we stopped at the Rome LDS
tw and just went to the visitors centered. The statues
of the original twelve Apostles were there, and you talked
about having snacks and you had a gluten free bar
to finish the story.

Speaker 4 (01:05:11):
Oh yeah, this wonderful person who had diabetes, which I
felt bad for, didn't come prepared. It had nothing, and
so his blood sugar was low. And so what sucks
is that I was like, well, of course I'll give
you some of my snacks because I don't want you.

Speaker 3 (01:05:28):
To be sick.

Speaker 8 (01:05:29):
But also, baby, you're seventy two and you had ration
those snacks for your your needs. Well, word got out
and oh I heard you had a protein Martin. No,
I heard you were giving out.

Speaker 3 (01:05:41):
Nope, I don't have one for you. I'm sorry. So
the point is be prepared.

Speaker 4 (01:05:46):
Like whether it's diao, yeah, diabetes or a food allergy,
come prepared. Don't think that you can rely on other
people or be able to go to a McDonald's in Rome.

Speaker 3 (01:05:58):
That's just not a possibility. So I'll just always be prepared.

Speaker 1 (01:06:02):
No, Kathy, you dear, you were this sweet girl who
had never traveled east of what Vernal. You had been
to Hawaii growing up, very sheltered. And we got married
and we have seen the world together. It's so much fun.

(01:06:23):
I love traveling with Kathy. You've been to one hundred
and five countries. What is some place that you have
not been to that you really would like us to go.

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
We have not traveled a lot in South America. You've
made a couple of trips without me, and we did
the choice Hue around the Horn, Around the Horn, so
we saw some of the on the cr coastal cities.
But I have always wanted to see Machu Pichu.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
Well, we'll have to get you there now. Kathy not
only assists me when we are leading tours together, but
she has actually led tours on her own to Guatemala,
to Thailand, to Cambodia, and she is a wonderful guide.
I always say, Kathy, when you are with a group,

(01:07:17):
like we have that Australia New Zealand cruise coming up,
and we will have a couple of buses, you'll take one,
I'll take one. When Kathy is in charge of a group,
I don't worry. That's because I follow all the rules.

Speaker 5 (01:07:33):
Do you have a lot of people who want to
swap buses and they want to go with Kathy. Kathy
is a rule follower.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
I don't always follow the straight and narrow, but I
do crisscross it from town.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Well, well, it makes it tough for those of us
who too because you look like the fun guy.

Speaker 1 (01:07:48):
I'm the fun dad, but you get everything that. What
advice do you have for people traveling with a group.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
What I've become more and more aware of lately is
that traveling as a group. And I love Larry's groups
because he treats everybody fairly. People start to be friends,
he calls them family. But every once in a while
there's somebody, particularly someone who may need some extra help,

(01:08:23):
who doesn't realize the effect that their issues have on
the entire group. I would say, please be aware, please
read the room. We're all in this together. And my
big thing is when you're on one of Larry's tours,

(01:08:45):
you arrive on time and you keep up with the
group very quickly. What is your favorite trip of all time?

Speaker 1 (01:08:54):
Again? Oh, it's thet I just want to remind our
listeners that can Anthy and I will be sailing the
Rhine on with the Christmas Markets December third to the tenth,
and we still have room. We chartered half of the
ship rates thousands of dollars below what you'd pay December

(01:09:14):
third to the tenth of twenty twenty six. And that's
certainly one of my favorites. Also, when we come back,
we have more of the Gelwick's family view of traveling
the world here on the Travel Show. Welcome back to

(01:09:40):
the Travel Show. I wear a Gelwicks then get away gouger.
And this has been a memorable, I hope memorable special
holiday edition of the Travel Show with the traveling Yelwick's
family joining me today with my lovely wife Kathy, and
daughters Jenny and our youngest son, Keaton. It's been a

(01:10:02):
lot of fun and I hope you folks have enjoyed
it as much as we have. I do have a
question for the three of you, uh in one or
two sentences for those listeners and travelers who don't know
us but they just listen to the show, thank you
very much. How would you describe your parents? How would

(01:10:24):
you describe your mom? How did you describe your dad?

Speaker 5 (01:10:27):
I would describe my mom very well. I would refrain
from talking about my dad. Okay, no, My mom is
one of the kindest people. She remembers things, she loves
to do special things for the grandkids.

Speaker 1 (01:10:41):
She's just so so kind. And for my dad, he's fun.
He loves to make jokes.

Speaker 5 (01:10:46):
You know, there's a reason that he has these travel
groups where it's come with Larry, you know, it's it's
an entertainment that you get on those travel experiences. And
he's just he's a fun guy. He's fun to be around,
fun to hang out with.

Speaker 1 (01:10:58):
Thank you Kat and Sarah.

Speaker 4 (01:11:00):
For my mom, I'd say she's a great listener and
she is a good person to you know, bounce ideas
off of, Like what do you think about that? My
dad is You're just fun.

Speaker 3 (01:11:13):
My dad is fun.

Speaker 4 (01:11:14):
If we have a crazy idea, chances are the answer
will be yes, especially if it's a grandchild involved.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Was it Emily Kathy that said describing us, said dad
is the fun dad, But you mom, you just do everything.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
Yeah, And I'm still trying to settle that out in
my mind.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
Jenny, I think that my dad.

Speaker 6 (01:11:37):
I want to describe you as an adventurous and spontaneous
and you look out for all.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44):
Of us and your mom.

Speaker 6 (01:11:46):
My mother, I did thoughtful and she has instilled my
love of shopping on trips. Yes, that's one of my
favorite that's one of my favorite things.

Speaker 7 (01:11:58):
When I and you should see Jenny.

Speaker 6 (01:12:00):
Everything in my house is stuff from its memories from
trips and her listening skills and she's always very helpful
and can get a stane out.

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
Of a Well. Thank you, Jenny. I want to go
back to Disneyland and we ran out of time. Would
you talk about how you use Apple air tags with
your kids, which to me is brilliant.

Speaker 6 (01:12:23):
Yeah, so this can be for traveling with kids anywhere,
but this is something that I wrote down specifically for Disneyland.

Speaker 3 (01:12:30):
I put an Apple air tag on each of my kids.
I put it on one of those bands, but I
put it on their ankle.

Speaker 6 (01:12:35):
Keaton puts it, he ties it in, but I put
it on their ankle so it's not as obvious and
it's harder to get off.

Speaker 3 (01:12:42):
They have to take their shoe off to get it off.

Speaker 6 (01:12:44):
I also, so I do that and it's easy because
but it works better in a place if there's lots
of iPhones, because that's how they can find it, and
so Disneyland's perfect for that, or just traveling in general.
I write my name and my phone number on their
arm in permanent marker, and we talk about like helpers,
who the helpers are, and there's people with name tags,

(01:13:05):
so I go over that. Sarah said she also tells
her kids, which I think is a great some great
advice where if you can't find people with name tags,
look for moms, because they look for moms with kids.
Another thing is, and this is what my dad used
to do before we had all this technology, is that
wherever we would go, whether it was Japan or New

(01:13:25):
Zealand or anywhere, we would find like something that was
very visible and very like just noticeable and you could
see it from far away and it was a meeting
place if you got lost. So when we're at Disneyland,
I have all those other things, but we'll be like
neat at the castle, or if you're closer, go to
the giant Pumpkin that's at the beginning of Main Street,
or they have the Christmas tree there, or when we're

(01:13:46):
in Star Wars Land, it's meat at the Millennium Falcon
if you get lost, So making sure.

Speaker 1 (01:13:51):
Oh.

Speaker 6 (01:13:51):
Another thing I do also is I dress my kids
in matching clothes. I don't know how long that will last,
but that way I can say this lost child is
wearing the same thing. And Keaton does it, but he
takes a picture of his kids, so you can say
this is what they're wearing.

Speaker 1 (01:14:04):
Oh that's great advice, you know, As a parent, you're
always kind of on edge. Where are my kids, especially
in big groups. Sadly, it's it happens. It's a dangerous
world out there. For that, I want to remind you
about the Utah Travel Expo. It is Wednesday, January twenty
first in Saint George at the Hilton Garden in You

(01:14:27):
don't want to miss it. And for the Salt Lake
area Friday and Saturday January twenty third and twenty fourth
at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy. Now you
can get all the details at Utah Travelexpo dot com.
And since Salt Lake is a ticketed event, I told
you how to get free tickets when you put that

(01:14:49):
discount code free and then hit apply and all of that. Well,
it's been so much fun to spend this year. I'm
in my thirty fifth year of hosting the Travel Show,
and I want to say, and we have a lot
of laughs, a lot of good times, how grateful I
am for each of you. I told you last week

(01:15:12):
that as we come into the year twenty twenty six,
and as we ask for and pray for blessings and
prosperity in the coming year, perhaps our first prayer and
requests can be that we will be the blessing to

(01:15:32):
someone in need. One of the things I say in
my prayers every day is I ask the Lord help
me have a sensitivity to those in need that need
my service, and I promise him that if he'll help
make me aware of it, I promise to act upon it.

(01:15:52):
Many thanks to Denny, our producer who runs the board
answers your phone calls as a spectacular job. Kathy, love you,
You're the best traveling companion. And to all five of
my kids, love you. Hey. We'll be back live next
week January third, for the new year's edition of the

(01:16:15):
Travel Show. Bye Bye Bye,