The Travel Show: What to do for the Summer; International Travel; Alaska

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Travel show. I'm Larry Gelwick's get away Guru. We have
not only an informative show today, but I gotta tell
you we have a fun show today. Among the things
we'll be talking about is what do you need to
do to get ready for summer and fall international travel?
And what are the four letters that may appear on

(00:23):
your boarding pass that you never ever want to see.
We're gonna talk about the airports with the most disruptions,
delays and cancelations. I'm gonna take you to Alaska some
fun facts about that, and I will be hosting a
travel show Alaska Cruz next year, twenty twenty six. I've

(00:44):
had a lot of requests to say, Larry, just talk
about the tours that you'll be personally hosting, which of
course is a reason to book something else. But I
will talk about some of the programs I will be
taking next year. Well, travels back in the Big Way,
and international travel is absolutely booming. You know, pre covid

(01:06):
it was about sixty forty on the Google search request,
sixty percent for a domestic destination, about forty percent for international. Well, guys,
that has flipped. It's now about sixty percent of Google
travel searches or for international travel forty percent for domestic.

(01:30):
I've made the distinction. There are travelers and tourists, and
there's nothing wrong with either one. They're both wonderful. There's
no diminishing a tourist, but it's a different mindset a tourist,
which I've been sometimes and sometimes a traveler. It depends
on the trip what I'm looking for. But we're seeing

(01:51):
more and more people wanting very unique experiences, coming out
of the ordinary, something they probably wouldn't do on themselves now.
And nobody has a death wish. We're not talking about
climbing Mount Everest or anything like that. But a tourist is,
you know, kind of a package program. We're going to

(02:12):
just go to Cancun and sit at our resort for
a week. Nothing wrong with that. I have done that,
but in that role, I call myself a tourist. It's
a wonderful tourist, but a traveler has a little bit
more sense of adventure. That unique experience I talked about
something out of the ordinary, is something that affects us

(02:35):
as beings, as humans, as family members. That is a traveler,
and some of the programs really are geared for travelers
and some for tourists. Now I want to talk about
international travel. Some of the things you want to remember
when you're getting ready for this summer especially, but also

(02:56):
fall and next year. Review all your travel documents, your
air reservations, your cruise, your hotel, transportation, and whatever you do.
Check the validity of your passport. Now most countries require
your passport to be valid for at least six months

(03:18):
beyond your return date to the United States. Now, not
all countries, most countries, some are one month, three months.
Mexico is kind of interesting unless they've they've changed it today,
but Mexico is your US passport. You have to have
a passport if you drive or fly into Mexico. Interestingly enough,

(03:41):
if you take a cruise. Some cruises select cruises out
of a US city and return to that US city
making a stop in Mexico. Technically you do not need
a passport, but passports are highly recommended. I remember a
family that was on the Mexican Riviera cruise, which it's
his round trip out of Los Angeles and stops in Cabo, Mazitlan,

(04:04):
and Puerto Yarta, and their sixteen year old son had
an appendicitis in Mazitlan. Well they saw the ship. Doctor
he says, you you know, he's he's got to get
to the hospital. They took him to the Mazitlan hospital
where the surgery was done. But they wanted to get

(04:25):
back home to the US. They could not travel. Why
because while passports were not required on this cruise, proof
of citizenship is. They can't fly home, they can't drive home.
Heaven forbid. They rent a car in Mazittlan try and
make it to the border, and they had to wait

(04:46):
about a week until proof of citizenship was cleared. They
got their passports. Their boy is languishing in a Mexican hotel,
excuse me, a Mexican hospital while the family's in the hotel.
What I'm telling you, some Caribbean and Mexico cruises do
not require passport. However, we strongly recommend it always double

(05:09):
check the document required, because some certainly will. There's a
great couple of great websites I've told you about some
months ago. One is travel dot State dot gov. This
is maintained by the US State Department and has a
plethora of information. It's where you renew your passport online.

(05:34):
You can get international travel. It has informations on learning
to adopt a child to and from the US, protect
a child from parental abduction to and from the US,
how to certify your documents for use overseas. You know,
I mean it goes on and on, but let's click
on find International Travel and there you type in the

(05:59):
cun tree one at a time that you are going
to visit. You're going to visit three countries. You'll enter
three times, and it's under country information. Learn about your destination,
and it will tell you where US embassies are, currency requirements,
visa requirements, health information, safety and road information, and it

(06:24):
will tell you the validity of your passport that you
have to have to enter, and then it will rate
countries by safety one, two, three, and four. A level
one would be someplace like Fiji, Thailand, Iceland, where I'll
be going, have been New Zealand, Australia, Canada. It's like,

(06:46):
always use caution, but you know this place is generally safe.
A level two would include Mexico, France, Germany, Brazil, Italy, India.
It's these places are safe, but exercise a little bit
more caution. But a number three is exercise a lot

(07:07):
more caution and maybe put off travel unless it's essential,
absolutely essential, but use your own good judgment. A level
four would be North Korea, where by the way, I've
been Burma, Haiti, Russia, Ukraine. I mean, are you out
of your mind even thinking about going to one of

(07:28):
these countries? That's travel dot state dot gov. Another really
good website maintained by the US State Department is the
STEP program, and that is STEP dot state dot gov.
STEP is Smart Traveler Enrollment program. You register with the
State Department what country or countries you're going to, and

(07:50):
then the embassy of those countries. If they have alerts
or information, we'll email them directly to you. It also
will give you information natural disasters, strikes, civil disobedience, things
that are going on in the country. And if your family,

(08:12):
in the event of an emergency, needs to get a
hold of you, it will help them contact you. That's
STEP STEP dot state dot gov. Now, if you're traveling
on your own and not with a group tour, download
Google offline maps. Just put them on your phone. It'll

(08:34):
help you get around and call your cell phone provider
find out what program you have. Do you have unlimited
data overseas? You have it here at home? But do
you have it overseas and make three copies of your passport? Now?
Why three? Well, the first copy is just like a photocopy.

(08:59):
Second is you take make a picture with your cell
phone and save it to your photo gallery on your
mobile device. The third is that you download that device
that cell phone photo to your server, to your PC
or laptop back home. Now, why three copies? In the
unlikely event that your passport is lost or stolen, you

(09:22):
will not come home until you have a new one.
And you can walk into an embassy and usually if
you get there early in the morning when they open,
you can usually get your passport in one day, sometimes too.
If you don't have it, you're calling at myrtle back home,
it's a well, you know, myrtle. I think it's in
the third drawer down in the kitchen. My birth certificate.

(09:46):
Oh no, it's not there. So three copies. Call your
bank or credit card company, let them know you're going overseas,
Thoroughly research your destination, and book your activities in advance. Well,
there's a lot more that we're going to be talking

(10:07):
about as you get ready for summer travel. And one
thing that has come out Southwest Airlines now has a
very strict policy about chargers. And when we come back,
if you use a portable charger and you take that
on the airplane, you know you can't put it in

(10:27):
your like lithium batteries. They don't want a power bar
in your own suitcase. I'm going to tell you if
you're flying Southwest, what you have to hear? Yeah, right
here on the Travel Show, don't you're listening to the

(10:52):
Travel show? Get Away? The Travel Show has brought you
a courtesy on the boards on this travel where you
always travel more in the US. Checkout all the offerings
from Morris Columbus Travels at their website Morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morriscolumbus dot com. Or if you don't have the

(11:13):
direct line for your favorite travel advisor, you can reach
them at one eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.
Now that's easy to remember, isn't it. One eight hundred
triple nine forty six forty six. Well, Southwest Airlines, boo,
Southwest Airlines. You know they took away our free bags,

(11:34):
and you know we flew on Southwest. Kathy goes up
and says, can my bag fly free and they said, no,
he'll you'll have to pay for him, and they were
pointing at me. But that's another story, all right. Southwest
Airlines has a new strict safety policy about portable chargers
and what you need to know. They've enacted a new

(11:57):
rule around using a portable charger in flight. Passengers must
keep the chargers out of their carry on bag. You
can't put them in your suitcase. But before we could
just put him in our carry on bag and throw
them up in the overhead. Now you've got to keep
them out and in sight, like on your lap while

(12:18):
in use. And that started what about three weeks ago
endto May. Now. The new policy follows portable charger bans
from many airlines based in Asia after dozens of recalls
and safety incidents involving exploding portable charging devices. Southwest is

(12:40):
making a major change. As I mentioned, they now require
you to keep your portable battery charges in not only
your site, but in their site meaning the flight attendance,
and out of any bags of storage areas while being used. Now,
of course you know that these battery charges are really popular.

(13:00):
They keep your phone, battery and other electronics fully charged
and battery packs have really grown in popularity, but too
many of them have been recalled and led to hazardous outcomes.
Keep it inside, guys. Okay, I'll be traveling to Europe

(13:22):
three four different times this summer. Can you believe that?
And one of my favorite cities is I call it, well,
I'll be Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Netherlands is just a great city
that was founded in the thirteenth century as a fishing village.
And it's built on the river Amstell. So we have

(13:43):
Amstell Where do we get the dam? From the dam dam?
It can be actually a number of things. It can
mean a structure that blocks or controls the flow of water,
think of a dyke. It can also mean a causeway,
a street, or even a barrier. So you have the
city built on the Amstell river, Amstell Dam, which has

(14:08):
become Amsterdam, Rotterdam, e Dam and others. Now here's what's interesting.
When you think of Amsterdam, you think of canals, don't you.
By the way, they have one hundred and sixty five.
When you think of Venice canals one hundred and fifty, Well,
you know that if it weren't for my kids and grandkids,

(14:28):
Kathy and I would live in Thailand. Amsterdam is one
hundred and sixty five canals, Venice has one hundred and fifty.
Bangkok has one thousand, six hundred and eighty two canals.
They call them Aklong. Now what to see there? To me?
I mean, I just love walking around the streets, the architecture,

(14:50):
the little cafes and coffee shops. Here are some of
my favorite places to visit. The and Frank House, you
know the story the Diary of Ang Frank, a true story.
You can visit the upper attic where they hid the
family until they were outed. But you want to get

(15:11):
your tickets in advance, especially in the summertime. It's an
online ticket purchase if you just show up. Sometimes if
they have some tickets available, they'll make it for a standby,
but you will never get that in the summer. Even
in the off season, they seem to sell out. The

(15:32):
Reike's Museum that's the Night Watchman and Rembrandt or finsured here,
the Van Go Museum, which I went to the Van
Go last August with my daughter Emily. You can visit
Rembrandt's house. They have a museum there. I really like
Vondel Park. Now, what you want to do there is
look for the parrots. They have escaped from their pet

(15:55):
owners and they live in the park year round. And
what would Amsterdam be without a canal trip. It easually
takes about an hour. You're exploring the city by canal.
You can do it both during the day and night.
And it's hard to say which one I prefer. I
love the lights, but I think I like the day

(16:18):
because I can see the architecture much better than that.
Now there's so many things to eat there, but my
absolute favorite is called the rice taffel. You remember the Dutch.
We have the Dutch West Indies and the Caribbean, but
the Dutch also colonized Southeast Asia and were a major

(16:43):
influence in Indonesia. Now, a rice taffel or rice table
it will have anywhere from say twelve to twenty five dishes.
Most of them are twenty to twenty five. They're smaller plates,
think like Spanish tappas, small plates of food. You'll get
Nasi goring, which is Indonesian fried rice or white rice.

(17:06):
Get the Nasi goring. It is just outstanding. You put
rice on your plate and then you add to the
plate from the small dishes. They'll bring out two or
three and you'll consume those, then bring out two or three.
Sometimes they'll bring the whole thing out, but then the
food's getting cold, so you want to do the rice

(17:27):
tofl There's no shortage of restaurants like that. What's interesting
about Amsterdam are there are more bicycles than people. And yeah,
did you know that Netherlands and Holland are not the
same thing. We sometimes referred to it. The country is
Holland or the Netherlands the Netherlands. The Netherlands is actually

(17:51):
the name of the country where Holland is a province
or state, And that's kind of taken on with that. Now,
when we come back here on the Travel Show, I'm
going to dip into my memoirs in journal and just
talk about some of the great experiences that I've had
that I'm going back to would love to share with

(18:13):
you right here on the Travel Show. You're listening to

(18:38):
the Travel Show. Yeah, I'm Larry Gelwizti get Away and
Guru here with you every week as we sail the
Seven C's and glove droup the four corners of the world.
Would you do me a favor? Would you join our
Facebook and Instagram accounts our social media. Now we have
Morris Columbus Travel and we have Morris Murdoch Gorted Touris.

(19:01):
That's the brand name, Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours for our
escorted programs where we are have arranged a cruiser tour.
It's one of our Morris Columbus tours. Now why two names, Well,
the Murdoch name goes back. They sent me out as
a young missionary a million years ago and kind of

(19:25):
wanted to keep the name. It meant something. But Morris
Columbus Travel is the company. Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours is
the brand, kind of like General Motors and Chevrolet. But
we'll keep you up to date on all things travel.
And by the way, if you have a topic that
you would like me to talk about, call Morris Columbus

(19:50):
Travel or send something on social media get the information
to me. I'd love to have you help me plan
out the Hey. Earlier in the show, I mentioned there
are four dreadful letters that you never want to see
on your passport. Airport security really is an important system

(20:14):
that maintains the safety of the public. With over nine
hundred and four million passengers screened by TSA, which is
Transportation Security Administration. Last year, that's almost a billion people
just in this country. Most screenings are normal and routine.

(20:35):
And would you do me a favor, Would you get
ready for the X ray machine? You know you get
there and now in the winter time, got to take
my code offs, got to take my knee boots out,
and it's just stra would you just get ready, take
my keys out and my cell phone be ready? Anyway,
most screenings are normal and routine. However, a dreaded four

(21:01):
SSSS four s's could signal a significant slowdown in your
airport security experiences with additional searching and bag searches. Now
here's what you need to know. Ss SS stands for
secondary Security Screening Selection by the US Department of Homeland Security,

(21:26):
and it's displayed on the boarding pass. You will see
it as a four letter code. The symbol prompts the
TSA officers to conduct additional security screenings on a passenger.
Travelers can receive a SSSS on their boarding pass for

(21:46):
both domestic and international flights to and from the United States. Now,
if you were flagged with this designation, they will have
they will search your carry on luggage and sometimes oftentimes
other enhanced security protocols. You could even be taken into

(22:06):
a private room for a personal screening. Now, the extra
screenings can range from having your electronics swapped, a manual
examination of your carry on luggage, or even being padded down.
But now, because the screenings vary, these extra steps can
take you know, from five or ten minutes to a

(22:28):
half an hour or an hour. Now, how do you
get an SSSS. Most people will get it randomly applied
to an airline's passenger ticket without any specific reason, according
to US Senate report in twenty twenty three. Now, while
the designation can be applied to passengers on watch lists

(22:51):
or flyers with unusual travel patterns, the report analyzed TSA
data which showed most often it is purely random. So
if you getss just ask where do I send the
thank you note? Now, I don't want you to be shocked.

(23:11):
I'm going to tell you about the one time, and
one time only I went to an opium den. I
went in yeah and yeah. Anyway, So this was some
years ago. I was a young man traveling and I
was in the foothills of the Himalayas, and I wanted
to go visit a hill tribe. I know a guy.

(23:35):
I met a guy, and I rented a four wheel
vehicle like a jeep, and I had my guy and translator.
He knew a hill tribe. We went as far as
we could in this four wheel vehicle and then had
to hike and hike and hike. Now I don't know

(23:56):
that it's getting any better, but the main cash crop
for many of these hill tribes throughout Southeast Asia is opium.
They grow the poppies, they get the black tar, they
sell it. I'm not saying that's right, because it's not.
It's a scourge. Heroin and opium are an absolute scourge.

(24:17):
But we hiked in. He knew the village. That's why
we were safe and we weren't shot as we were coming. See,
when I was young, I did these crazy things. I remember,
I told you the story. But when I lived with
an Aboriginal tribe in Australia, hundreds of miles from civilization,

(24:38):
I actually did everything they did, dressed like they didnt
I hunted with a spear and a machete. That was
a crazy experience. I've told you about that, but it's
been some years. I'll think I'll revisit that anyway. Back
to this hill tribe village and we come in and
they knew him, and they welcomed us, and they wanted

(25:00):
and he says, they're going to do a welcoming ceremony
for you, Larry, And I thought, well, is that just
the coolest thing to be greeted by a hill tribe?
And we go into this hut. There are no windows,
there's one door which is closed, and we sit around
in a circle. I don't know what they're going to do.

(25:20):
He didn't tell me. And they light up a pipe
and they're puffing away and passing this pipe with opium
in it from person to person. I lean over to
my friend and I said, you know, I don't do that,
and then he says, oh, you have to. They'll take offense.
I said, I'm not going to smoke opium. I can't

(25:43):
do that. I didn't know that coming in here. He says, well,
this is the welcoming ceremony. If you refuse, it will
signal that they're not hospitable hosts and they'll take great offense.
And he says, why won't you just try it? And
I said, well, for religious reasons, and he goes, oh, oh, well,
that's okay, that's okay, and he told them in their

(26:06):
native language, which I think was Mong and they just
nodded their heads. So the pipe came to me and
I passed it right. But you know, it's a small
hut and there's probably about twelve men in there. There's
a lot more men in the village, but twelve came in,
some of the chiefs and elders. And it's getting cloudy

(26:29):
in there. It is secondhand opium smoke, and I'm starting
to get a little buzzed from it. And I said
to my friend, I got to get out of here,
and so he graciously we got excuse for them. I'm going, WHOA.
I didn't know this was going to happen, but that
was my one time one time. I guess Denny getting

(26:52):
is it? Is it getting high on opium? Denny is
our producer and he's not in his head right there.
But I didn't know that going in, and I did
refuse the pipe, but I got the second hand. But
you know, I look back, what an experience. I'm not
recommending that to you and those who go to Southeast
Asia with me. No, I am not going to take

(27:13):
you to an opium den. Stay far far away. I'll
tell you one funny thing. You know some drugs like
cocaine or something. I'm told I've never seen cocaine. I
really haven't, except the pictures in the White House a
few years ago. But that's another story. Anyway. I guess

(27:34):
it's a fine white powder, Denny. I'd ask you, but
I know that you don't know either. Okay, So I'm
going to Thailand. I take a vitamin supplement in the morning.
I mix it with water and it's a fine white powder.
So I put it in a little ziplock bag, put
it in another ziplock bag, and I actually put it

(27:58):
in my suitcase check it in and I'm somewhere over
the Pacific, and I think, oh no, if they open
my bag or see it on an X ray, they're
going to see a little bag of fine white powder.
I will get a luggage and personal check the likes

(28:23):
of which I cannot even imagine. It will explore every
area of my luggage and self. But they didn't say anything,
and so I stopped taking the vitamin supplement with me.
As a fine white powder. One of my favorite areas
is French polynesia. I think I've told you before that

(28:48):
people ask me all the time, Larry, where's your favorite?
You've been to one hundred and fifteen countries that this
year I'm going to go to one sixteen. Got a
new country I'm visiting. What's your favorite? And I have
to answer that with a question, what is the purpose
of the trip? If you want now, my list and

(29:09):
favorites are not necessarily yours. There's no right or wrong answer.
It's just personal. And for me, the place that explodes
my sense is sheer absolute physical beauty is French Polynesia, Tahiti, Bora, Bora, Huahini,

(29:32):
the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotu, the Austrils, the Gambiers, French Polynesia.
But if you're looking for excitement, for adventure, things out
of the ordinary, perfectly safe, a great value, Well, that's easy.
That's Thailand in Southeast Asia. Is that I love Thailand.
I can't wait. I'll be going back this year, already

(29:55):
been there once, be going back again because I think
it's going to be a slow year. I only be
in Thailand twice this year. For history, it's hard to
beat Europe and the Middle East. But if you want adventure,
it's an African safari in Kenya only in the months
of July, August and September, the so called Great Migration.

(30:16):
By day three you will have seen over fifty species
of animals, not including birds. It's the largest land migration
of animals on Earth. It is impossible to describe the
sheer number of animals. Well. Later in the show, I
want to tell you what I would do in Bora Bora,

(30:39):
which James Mischioner, the famous author remember the book Hawaii. Yeah,
he wrote that. In others he described Bora Bora as
the single most beautiful island in the world. Mount Ottemanu,
which is the centerpiece of the island. It takes your
breath away as you come in there. I'd like to

(30:59):
tell you what I like to do in Bora Bora
and then take you to the mystical sacred island of Eta.
It's the temple island in ancient times and modern times. Yeah,
right here on the travel shop. Thank you for joining

(31:29):
us today. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Boomer, and you
are listening to the travel show brought to your courtesy
of Morris Commumbus Travel, who have been awarded the best
of State designation as the number one best top travel
company travel agency in the Great State of Utah for
the fourth year in a row. And why did they

(31:52):
get this designation, this award because of the travel experts.
You know, when you talk to Morris Columbus Travel, you're
likely to be talking to a professional and experienced travel
advisor who will talk to you from personal experience rather
than say, well, let me google it up. Morriscolumbus dot

(32:12):
Commorriscolumbus dot com, Well we have some fun stuff right now.
Do you remember when? Was it? June? No? May thirty first?
May thirty first? Show? So what is that? About? Three
weeks ago I mentioned that Delta had quietly begun charging

(32:34):
single or solo passengers more per ticket than travelers booking
two or more on select flights. And there was an
example that I gave in Minneapolis to Miami where a
single traveler traveling alone the lowest fare was one hundred
and ninety eight bucks. You know that's not bad, But

(32:54):
if two people booked it the same date, same flight,
same everything, their per person cost was one hundred and
eighteen Now why was Delta and United and some others
doing this well? Vacation travelers are very price sensitive, but
business travelers are less price sensitive. I've got to get

(33:17):
to a meeting. I've got to get there. And what
they were trying to do is pick more money out
of the business travelers pocket because business travelers are not
as price sensitive. Well, the company's paying for it. Well,
you know somebody owns the company. I know all about that. Well,
there was such a backlash. Delta Airlines has reversed its

(33:40):
previous policy of charging higher fairs for solo travelers, allowing
them to book the same price as two or more. Now.
The change comes after a national firestorm, a national backlash
against the airlines pricing tactics quietly followed suit. So I

(34:03):
think that's good for us. Hey, have you used facial
recognition at the airport or somewhere else? Well, I think
it's great. You know, you can have it at TSA
when you board the plane. Rather than getting out all
your documents, it just chose your face and you can
board the flight. Well, a woman was humiliated when she

(34:29):
attempted to board a flight. She had the facial recognition
which is her passport photo. But the technician behind the
facial recognition device didn't believe it was her. She had
so much makeup caked on that she didn't. And I

(34:52):
saw the picture. She didn't even resemble the passport photo.
I mean it was on in layers. Think of Queen Victoria.
We are not amused. She had it caked on also,
But they made her right there at the boarding door,
in front of everyone, start wiping gobs of makeup off

(35:14):
her face. And this is what the the the airport
employee said to her. Wipe everything off until you look
like your passport photo. Why would you do your makeup
like that. You're asking for trouble and then continue to
publicly scold her in front of other people. Well she again.

(35:38):
I saw the photos. She wiped it off and it
was quite a mess. So watch out for that makeup. Denny,
all right, he's laughing. I mentioned earlier, and I've mentioned
this before and I'll continue to do it because a
few of you don't listen to the full two hours,

(36:00):
but most of you do. Did you know that you
can go to morrisk dot com usually on Tuesday or
Wednesday and listen to or re listen to yeh, you know,
if you're getting sentimental for my voice, you can listen
to this show like what Tuesday Wednesday of next week
and pick up this show. I keep talking about about
once a month that you can renew your passport online. Now,

(36:24):
earlier I told you about making three copies, but the
State Department has fully rolled out its online passport renewal system,
allowing you to do your passport from the comfort of
your home. It was a pilot program, what was that
twenty twenty two, and now it's fully up. So here
are the requirements. You've got to be at least twenty

(36:45):
five years old, you have to live in the United
States in a state or territory, and the passport must
have been issued between nine and fifteen years ago. And
you've got to have the old passport with you now.
Applicants must not currently plan to change their name, gender,

(37:06):
date of birth, or place of birth. In other words,
it's all got to be the same, and expedited service
is not available online. So here's what you do. It's
really easy. Go to travel dot State dot gov, travel
dot skate dot gov. You can also do first time
applications on this and then click on get a US Passport.

(37:26):
Then click on I'm an adult renewing online and simply
follow the directions. It is so simple. Travel dot State
dot gov. Click on get a US passport, click on
I'm an adult renewing online. Well, when we come back
at our number two, I have a riotous story about

(37:47):
diet coke and the Rhine River cruise chart you charter.
You don't want to miss that again. What airports are
likely to delay you? That's coming up in number two.

(38:10):
Welcome to our number two of the travel Show. I'm
Larry Gelwiz the Getaway Douru. It's been my privilege to
be your personal guide and host right here on the
travel show. Be ready for this for thirty four years.
Thirty four years, and I'm loving it and loving life.
The travel shows brought to you courtesy of Morris Columbus Travel,

(38:33):
where you always travel more and pay. Let's check out
all they've got to offer around the world, close to
home and across the Seven Seas at Morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morriscolumbus dot com, or give them a call at
eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six. Okay, you know,

(38:57):
I think the official drink of the State of Utah,
if they legislature has not enacted. They should. It's diet coke,
you know, particularly the jumbo size diet coke, and I
have to admit I'm a diet coke fan. I like

(39:17):
the dirty diet coke, which is a couple squirts of
coconut syrup and lime squeeze, a couple of lines. It's
just really really good. Fact I had one today anyway,
So we some years ago we chartered an entire Rhine

(39:38):
River cruise boat, you know, holds about one hundred and
sixty people. We bought the whole thing, and that's always
interesting because you bought it's use it or lose it.
You have bought the ship, you get enormous price deductions.
And in fact, later on this hour, I'm going to
tell you about I think between twenty two, twenty six

(40:02):
and twenty twenty seven, I have five river cruises, at
least five coming up. I'll tell you about those. Anyway.
So we chartered the entire boat, and I told the commissary,
I said, now, I don't know exact numbers, but I
am guessing, being from Utah and the Mountain States and

(40:24):
southern Idaho, there's going to be a portion of our
guests that do not drink alcohol. Now we do want
you know, alcohol, beer and wine available for those who
choose to enjoy an adult beverage. But I'm guessing fifty
percent or more probably won't drink alcohol. But then I said,

(40:46):
and this is the very words I said, the very
same inflection. I said, they may not drink alcohol, but
they will suck you dry of diet coke. And so
we get on the on the ship on day two.
I guess they didn't listen to me. It turns out
they didn't. On day two, we ran out of diet

(41:07):
coke and coke zero. And I said to them, guys,
I told you long before we even arrived in Europe,
no take the diet coke. I suggested they triple the
commissary a lot mona. Well, on day three, we're in
Vienna and I see an armada of employees in uniform

(41:31):
with Dolly's and case after case after case of diet coke.
And it got the group and the ship through the
next five days. But they will suck you dry of
diet coke. Hey, you know what is more frustrating. Then
you're onto the ear at the airport on time and

(41:54):
your flight is disrupted it's delayed, it's canceled. I'll tell
you where that's really gets stuff. You're flying to a cruise,
and I always recommend, even going to the West Coast
Alaska or out of LA I still fly in the
day before because disruptions do happen. Well, what are the

(42:17):
worst airports in the US based upon flight disruptions. Let's see,
I'm gonna start. I'll just give you the top five.
At number five, twenty six point seven percent of flights
are disrupted. Now, a delay to me is a delay,

(42:39):
but not to the airlines. It's fifteen minutes or more.
So if you leave or arrive at fourteen minutes, oh
that's on time. No, that's not on time, but that's
how they measure it. So at twenty six point seven,
we'll call it twenty seven. Number four. I'm surprised it's
only twenty six point nine percent of flights delayed or canceled.

(43:01):
At JFK. I thought it would be a lot more.
Number three, So there's the two big international airports, Newark
which is actually in New Jersey, but it's the New
York Liberty International and JFK International at number three, coming
in at twenty eight percent the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport,

(43:24):
twenty eight percent are going to get a delayer cancelation.
But you know they are beat out by Boston's Logan
Airport at thirty two percent. Guys, that's like one in
three flights are going to be delayed or canceled. Number one.
Not surprised. Forty percent. Now think about that, forty percent

(43:49):
of flights will be canceled. That is two out of
every five at the Reagan National Airport Inshington, d C.
Now you want the good news, salt Lake didn't make
the list. Salt Lake is a well run airport for that.
So I talked a little bit earlier about my love

(44:12):
of French Polynesian promised that in this hour I tell
you a little bit about Bora Bora. Doesn't that have
a romantic name. We're going to Bora Bora and it
is a beautiful island. It's not a big island, but
it has, like most of the French Polynesia islands, a
reef around it with an opening to the ocean, of course,

(44:33):
but so you don't get the pounding waves. You get
over to Taha and some of those islands you pick
him up. But in the Society Islands, which is one
of the five island groups in French Polynesia. You know,
most of them have a reef around. That means that

(44:54):
you have gentle water, very safe water there inside the lagoon. Well,
I mentioned last hour that Mount Otomanu was is kind
of the centerpiece. It's just gorgeous and as you get
up there. In World War two, the US was certain
that the Japanese would be invading, and so you still

(45:18):
have bunkers where they had artillery and servicemen who were
not sent to the Philippines or Guadalcanal or Okinawa. They
got to sit out the war at Bora Bora. Not
a shot was fired. They became you know, just they

(45:39):
went native, a lot of them. They're there for three
or four years. Anywh it's a beautiful it's fun to
visit those World War two bunkers. Cruise ships dock inside
the lagoon at Vartape is a little village right there,
and some of the things I like. My number one
favorite activity at Borbora, Kathy and I do this. You

(46:00):
can get a one or two person jet ski and
with a guide. There's usually about five or six jet
skis in the troop the guide will take you completely
around the island and stopping at some uninhabited islands or
motives and have a little picnic lunch or something like that.
But the water, you know, the clarity of the water

(46:23):
and the hues of blue in the water, I just
take your breath away. But going on a jet ski,
can you imagine that it's safe for people? I have
Grandma's come with me on this particular one. You could
also do a catamaran cruise in the lagoon. One of
my favorite I'm a diver. I've been diving all over
the world. One of my favorite diving areas is called

(46:47):
Coral Gardens. Now, if you know Bora Bora, it's very
near the Intercontinental La Mowana Bora Bora Resort. That's the
actual name of the hotel, Intercontinental Ley Mowana Bora Bora Resort,
And it is beautiful. But you can go out on
your own scuba or snorkeling, or you can have a guide,

(47:07):
kind of a little group goes out together. My favorite
beach is Matira Beach. Matira Beach, it's the largest public
access beach on the island, very calm water, soft sands
and what's nice is there's a handful of local restaurants. No,

(47:28):
you will not find a Taco Bell or McDonald's there,
but it's local restaurants serving fresh seafood, cocktails, burgers, snacks.
I always go for the fish and they it's fresh.
It's usually hours out of the water. But Bora Bora
is exciting. Now. I'll tell you one thing. Borabora has

(47:50):
a nickname Boring boring now because there's very little to do.
If you're going to go to Bora Bora, you want
R and R, rest and relaxation. If you're going to
go to a hotel there, and they are expensive, but
they are wonderful. I'm saying it's for just kickback, relax,
take it easy, and it is a wonderful holiday. If

(48:12):
you're looking for activities, it's got to go go, go,
go go. That's not the place to go if you
want activities. Morea properly pronounced Morea, which is just went
nine miles across the channel from the main island of
Tahiti and the capital city of Papiete. It has everything

(48:33):
that you could possibly imagine, including a Robert Trent Jones
Championship golf course, hiking four wheel driving scooters. Everything possible
right there. I love French Polynesia. I love Bora Bora,
and maybe I'll tell you a little bit more about
Morea when you come back. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(49:05):
I'm Larry Gelwicksteed, get Away and Guru. The Travel Show
is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel. We always travel more
and pay less. Hey, listen, you know that we have
an incredible travel expo every year in late January. It's
on a Wednesday in Saint George and Friday Saturday in

(49:28):
Salt Lake. This Salt Lake's the biggest one with over
one hundred travel vendors, airlines, cruise line, safari companies, resorts, hotels,
everything travel Well. We are introducing Morris Columbus Travel and
I will be there to broadcast live. I'll invite Denny
to come with me and his girlfriend. I'll take him

(49:48):
to lunch. Remind me of that, by the way, Denny,
I'll take you to lunch. We're going to do a
fall travel expo this year. It'll be October eighteenth at
the Davis Conference Center in Layton. Now that's something pre
Merger that Columbus Travel always did and it was great

(50:08):
for really Salt Lake, North southern Idaho, Wyoming could come
in a little bit farther for them to drive down
to Salt Lake. But this October eighteenth market on your calendar,
Davis Conference Center in Layton, and we will have over
fifty travel vendors. We could have more, but we got

(50:30):
no more room at the conference, so there'll be fifty
to sixty travel airlines, cruise lines, travel companies, everything imagine
with exclusive expo discounts. So what's really nice is every
hour travel prizes will be giving away, including free tickets,

(50:52):
free international tickets, cruises, hotel stays, everything travel October eighteenth
at the Davis Conference Center in Leyton. Now I've said
before there are places that I call one and done.
I'm glad I went, no need to go back, you know,

(51:12):
someplace like Cleveland. There are other places I can't wait
to get back. You know that Thailand is one of those.
Another one for me is an Alaska cruise. Now I
don't even know how many Alaska cruises I do. I'll
do one or two a year, and I get back

(51:33):
and I am giddy just thinking about going back, and
I'll see a lot of the same things. But it's
again this is beauty that overloads the census. Now I
will be hosting an Alaska cruise. I've got one this year,
which is let's see August twenty third to the thirtieth
with Princess That is Vancouver to Anchorage. You do have

(51:56):
to have a passport for that one. But next year,
twenty six I'll be hosting a cruise to Alaska sailing
round trip from Seattle, and the dates are July twelve
to nineteen with Princess Cruises, which by the way, has
the best pizza of any cruise line. And on that one,

(52:18):
while we recommend a passport, it is at presently not
required proof of citizenship. Is that'll be July twelve to nineteen,
twenty twenty six. I would love to have you join me.
And one of the stops we're making is in the
state's capital of Juno. Now, in and about Juno, there's
some things you absolutely have to see. First of all,

(52:40):
we do our own shore excursions, and we charter our
own whale watching boat, which means we can go where
we want to go. We don't have to follow somebody
else's instructions. And you know, the whale wall, it's just
so impressive to see these animals. They're wild animals, but
our guide seem to find great viewing. On the same

(53:02):
day we do the charter and Denny, do you think
I should ask about diet Coke? I think I probably
should the diet On the charter of our whale watching boat,
we'll visit Mendenhall Glacier. It's a spectacular glacier, easily accessible
from Juno. You can drive right up to the visitor

(53:23):
center and we pair it with a whale watching trip. Now,
right there by the visitor center is where bears often congregate.
Now there's a elevated wooden walkway where you're above the streams,
above the the foliage there and you know the wild animals.

(53:44):
There is no guaranteed anything, but it is where they
come to feed on the salmon. It's really exciting, and
the visitor center has park rangers. It's easy walking, there's
hiking trails and excellent bear watching right there. Now. Also
kind of in between Mendenhall Glacier and the visitors center

(54:07):
is Nugget Falls, also known as the Mendenhall Glacier Falls.
It is a massive waterfall and you can actually get
up close and personally we get close enough to get
some of the spray. That's and I guess located right
next to the glacier, short walk down from the visitors center. Now,
when you're in Juno, in the middle of town, you'll

(54:29):
see the Mount Roberts tramway, and if it's a clear day,
I recommend that you buy a ticket and take the
tram up for a sweeping view of Alaska from the
top of a mountain. There's a little lodge up there too,
where you can get a coffee or a soda or
something like that. It's a nine minute ascent from the

(54:53):
town up to the top of this mountain and you're
in an enclosed tramway as you go up. Now, if
it's a cloudy day or low hanging clouds, don't waste
your money because you're not going to see anything. Now,
no visit to Juno is complete without a visit to
the Red Dog Saloon, and it takes you back to
the gold rush days. It's so much fun the mining days.

(55:16):
There's still sawdust on the floors, old West atmosphere and
plenty of entertainment. And don't worry about the name saloon.
It is very family friendly. Nothing inappropriate for the kids.
But it's just a hearken back. So we'll be going
to Juneo. It's on my cruise next year. It's also

(55:36):
on my cruise this year. This year, there's still some
space available August twenty third to the thirtieth this year.
Next year is July twelve to nineteen. We're sailing round
trip from Seattle next year. Hey, I want to talk
to you about I get this request all the time.
It's very flattering to talk about some of the tours

(56:02):
that I'll be personally hosting. Most of them. Kathy will
be on with me. And by the way, do you
remember what three weeks ago when she was the co
host with me? Didn't she do an absolutely marvelous job.
I'm going to have her back again. But people ask me,
will you will you put out a flyer with all
your tours? We do that at Expo. But here are

(56:24):
some of the programs that I will be doing next year.
I'd love to have you join me. Now. I said
I was going to tell you how to talk like
an Aussie? Do you know the meaning of these words?
These are Australian slang. We start the day out with
a brecky that's breakfast. Do you know what a nail
bider is. No, it's not a Super Bowl football game

(56:47):
going down to the water, and nail bider is a
little kid, you know, crawling on the floor. If something
is fair dicome, that means it's genuine. It's true. I
need to visit the dunny. That is a toilet. Well,
it goes on and on, and a very polite way
to disagree is to say yeah, nah, yeah nah with anyway.

(57:13):
So the first one I want to talk to you
about this is a cruise from Australia to New Zealand.
The actual cruise dates or February fifteenth to March first.
Now that is our winter, but south of the equator
it's summertime. It's warm, it's shorts, it's T shirts and

(57:35):
short sleeve shirts. We will offer a three day pre
cruise Sydney option. You'll see Sydney, We'll go up to
the Blue Mountains. It's a great experience. And then at
the end of the cruise we will have a two
night Auckland option. Loo can't even talk an Auckland option.

(57:56):
So we'll start in Sydney, visit Melbourne, We'll go down
to Tasmania, over to the South Island, the North Island,
Milford Sound, just visiting all of New Zealand and end
up disembarking two weeks later at Auckland. Now, one of

(58:17):
the highlights of our Auckland extension is Hobbiton. Do you
remember the movie The Hobbits, you know, and the shire, well,
the actual place where they film that, and you remember
all those little Hobbit holes and Hobbit homes. They're still
there and they've been kept up, and you know, it's
the Green Dragon Cafe, Green Dragon Inn is still there

(58:41):
and it's a lot of fun. I'd love to have
you join me again on all these. We do our
own shore excursions, except on the river cruises where they're included.
The Australian New Zealand is February fifteenth to March first.
Now I will tell you a cruise that I am
really really looking forward to two and by the way,

(59:02):
now that's in twenty twenty seven that I'm looking forward to.
I call it the Spring Break Escape Cruise. I think
I talked about this couple of weeks ago. For most
of the school districts in Utah, spring break is always
Monday through Friday and in the spring, hence the name
spring break. Well for most of the school districts in

(59:24):
twenty twenty six. Next year, spring break is Monday through Friday,
April six to ten, and of course then you have
the two weekends, a great time for family travel. I
found a cruise that Kathy and I gave to our
children this last Christmas, December twenty twenty four. Their Christmas
present to all of our kids and their spouses and

(59:47):
all of the grandkids was a five day, four night
cruise out of Los Angeles. You can drive down, you
can fly down. We said, we will give you the
cruise and the tax as you get your self there
and you pay the gratuities. And we got our whole
family coming and catch this. For a family of four,

(01:00:07):
say four in a cabin, just as an example, two adults,
two kids. The price today and prices are subject to change.
It's Saturday. I don't know if this will be the price.
It may be lower, it may be higher on Monday.
The price for two adults, two kids three hundred and
ninety eight dollars excuse me, three hundred and ninety three

(01:00:27):
dollars now. About a month and a half ago it
was three hundred and fifty one. Cruise prices do not
stay the same, So what a great vacation for your
Start planning now the kids are in summer recess and
start planning now. Love to have it. Join me April
the tenth on the Spring Break Escape Cruise. We talked

(01:00:52):
about Tahiti to Honolulu. That with who I talked about
Moray and Bora Bora. Well, May fifteen to twenty seventh,
We're gonna sail from Tahiti. I'll be your guide. We
have some great short excursions plan and through the French Polynesia,
across the Equator and then sailing the Hawaiian Islands May

(01:01:13):
fifteen to twenty seven with a free airfare offer a
legitimate free airfare and that is really a buy one,
get one free, where the first person pays a seriously
discounted rate, the second person flies absolutely free, even including
the air taxes. That is May fifteen to twenty seven.

(01:01:35):
You know you wanted to visit Polynesia, Come with me
Tahiti and more when we come back about some of
the crazy ideas I have for from Just listen and
you'll know. Thank you for joining me on the Travelers Show.

(01:02:00):
You know I look forward at this show every weekend.
I love spending my Saturday mornings with you, and without you,
we don't have a show. This is my thirty fourth
year hosting the Travel Show, and I get giddy on Saturdays.
Kathy will tell you that I just can't wait to

(01:02:20):
get down here to the studio. We're syndicated now on
nineteen radio stations, most of them in the Inner Mountain West,
but we also broadcast in Texas and Florida, and we
welcome all of you to that. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the
Getaway Guru. The show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel.

(01:02:41):
Check them out at Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot com.
If you're looking for a twenty percent parking discount at
Salt Lake for those using the Salt Lake International Airport,
we recommend parking Jet. It's one of two major off
airport parking facilities. There's a lot of little, small ones,

(01:03:03):
but parking Jet will give you a free car wash,
They pick you up right at your car. They have good,
friendly service, and they are locally owned. The other company
with spots nothing wrong with it, but all that money flies,
I guess out of the state. I like to support

(01:03:23):
local people parking jet. So if you'll go to Morriscolumbus
dot com Morriscolumbus dot com and on the homepage right
at the top, click on resources and then right there
click on Salt Lake Parking Discount, it'll give you twenty
percent off and I say, print five or six of them.
Just keep me in your glovebox. Save you a ton

(01:03:46):
of money that you, of course you can use on
my Christmas present. We were talking about these tours. The
Tahiti to Honolulu is a special one for me night.
My wife was telling me because I have such a
love for Polynesia, I can I can struggle and conversation

(01:04:07):
get by in Tongan, I decide. I wanted to learn that,
and it changes everything in these communities. There's nothing like
walking in Samoa or Tonga, or Fiji or Tahiti on
a Sunday morning where the women are in their nice
moumo dresses. The men are wearing the lava lava, not

(01:04:29):
the flowered ones, but the more formal ones white, brown,
blue or black. Those are the wraparounds, and you know
the it usually comes to about half way up the calf.
The older the men, they generally draw it's a little
lower and closer to the ankle. The young men may
be a touch higher. But I have several. I have

(01:04:50):
a lot of those, the casual flower lava lavas. I
actually wear it doing yard work. The neighbors are used
to it seriously. But I have the formal ones. I
call him pocket lava or topeynu, and they have class.
They have pockets on them, and it is really really cool.
I tell you an interesting story. I was the youth

(01:05:13):
advisor in our church congregation some years ago. We had
sixty five young men fifty five young women in our congregation,
and so with the older group we called the priest Chorum,
we had twenty nine young men. Twenty seven and a

(01:05:35):
half showed up every week, the half about once a month.
The other didn't show up, but that's his choice. I'd
go visit him and anyway. But we introduced a section
on the church around the world in Polynesia, and so
with the permission of our bishop and parents, we had

(01:05:56):
a pattern of how to the mothers could make a
formal pocket lava out of black material with pockets, and
it's always worn of sandals. You wear it with sandals
because you're in the tropics. So for this particular month
that we were talking about this, the young man ages sixteen,

(01:06:18):
seventeen and eighteen in our church congregation, we come to
church every Sunday in sandals or flip flops, the pocket lava,
a white shirt and a tie, and man, did they
look handsome. And again with all the permission of the
church lives. The parents loved it. It was just incredible.
Then the younger kids, they wanted it, but I didn't

(01:06:40):
do it with them. So I love Polynesian and I
mentioned there's a free air offer. One of the highlights
for me is the right Yeteya. I made my way
up to an ancient temple. The name of the temple
was Hawaiki, and the foundations and the remnants of the
war this goes back over a thousand years, and those

(01:07:03):
ocean going vessels would come and get blessed by the
priest at Haaiki and set out into the far stretches
and reaches of the Pacific Ocean, many of them never
to be seen again, guiding themselves by the temperature of
the water, the current, the marine life, the birds, everything,

(01:07:25):
And I don't know where they're going, but you know,
there were two waves that settled HAWAIII. One about four
hundred a d from French Polynesia and particularly from right
Yeta and the Marquesas Islands, and the other came about
eleven hundred. But I have often wondered they came from
the temple of Hawaiki. Is that how the name HAWAIII

(01:07:49):
came to be? I don't know, but I suspect it
probably was. But I'd love to take you to the
We're going to stop it right Yeta. And by the way,
the Church of Jesus Christ of Letites Saints, which is
pretty prominent in this area, announced a new temple. You
can go visit the temple site there. Well. That brings
us to the end of the show, and thank you

(01:08:11):
for joining us. I love you guys. Do give Morris
Columbus a call. Eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.
That's eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six. Morris Columbus,
have a great, big God. Bless