Suzy Guese

When I search for a ticket for long haul flights, I am usually hungry to find a good deal. This is becoming harder and harder these days as the trolls behind airlines up the price as I debate whether to purchase. There isn’t time to hesitate or think things through when someone wants to make a profit off of you.

On my upcoming trip to Europe, I realized I was far too focused on the price of my long haul flight. I neglected key elements for booking a flight, one that can determine a good 10 hours or a bad 10 hours up in the air.

Learning to fly, with make-shift wings

A Good Seat Can Mean The World

When booking long haul flights, your seat is everything. When I booked my ticket, I took the last seat on the plane, the only one available. On long flights I prefer to be by the window. I believe that it allows more privacy and a nice make-shift pillow to lean against.

The problem with airlines is that they tend to pick a seat for you if you don’t choose yours at booking. As you book your ticket, have Seat Guru open to see the advantages and disadvantages of where you are about to select to sit. There have been far too many times that I have forgotten to check the seat of where I have selected. I then have found a strange metal box taking up all of my legroom or a seat with a great shot of the smelly lavatories. If you are spending hours upon hours on an airplane to cross oceans and continents, your seat should be as comfortable as it can be.

Check The Type of Plane and Airline

Before pressing purchase, research just what sort of plane you are flying. While most airlines have updated their planes for long haul flights to include personal entertainment screens, you would hate to book a flight that hasn’t been updated in ages and features that one giant screen that no one can see.

Make sure you aren't flying something like this

Using search engine sites to book the best airfare can sometimes put you on five different airlines in one journey. The longest flights should always be the best and most comfortable. A quick search of the airline and type of plane will tell you exactly what you will be getting on board.

Consider The Time of Day for Leaving and Arriving

Last month, I came back to Denver at 4PM. I then sat in traffic for two and half hours to get home. When you arrive home or to a new destination, it is important to consider just what time of day you will find yourself. Rush hour morning and evening traffic can make that long haul journey that much more tiring.

If you are leaving in the morning hours from virtually anywhere, that wake up call will be even earlier with traffic to the airport. I try to book flights that are not at heavily trafficked hours to make the day seem shorter and less stressful. If I am worried that I will miss my flight due to traffic on the way to the airport, then I didn’t examine my travel itinerary the way I should have at booking.

Weigh The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Airports of Connection

For most long haul flights of a reasonable price, you are generally going to have to stop somewhere. Sometimes these stops can be for hours, leaving you in a strange airport to wander and roam. If you have a choice of connections, where you will make your stops for long haul flights, be sure to pick the airport you can appreciate for a few hours.

For example, on my way to Ireland, I had to spend four hours in Chicago O’Hare. While I’m sure there are better gates, my section of the airport lacked places to charge phones or to get a decent meal. Most of us want to have quiet places to charge our laptops, phones and iPads before making the long journey overseas. A good meal is also important before boarding a flight for 10 hours if airplane food isn’t your favorite. If you have to spend time in an airport as part of your long haul, do your research about the airport and the terminal you will most likely be in for several hours.

Besides finding cheap airfare, what other things do you watch out for when booking long haul flights?

With just two weeks to go until I am off to Eastern Europe, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, tweet the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the post on my Facebook page. The following week I select my five favorites to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. The goal of this segment is to bring to light those travel posts that might not have received all of the attention they deserved.

Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one post per person each week. Leave your submission in the comment box below. Your submission must be travel related. You have until the end of the day on Friday to submit. I will get busy reading and promoting your articles throughout the week. All submissions will be promoted by the end of the day on Sunday. Be sure to follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my stumbles on Stumbleupon and “like” me on Facebook to make sure I give your post the attention it deserves. Check back next Monday to see if your submission made my five favorites.

The 5 Favorites of Last Week

“Maoist Guerilla Bombings and Dramatic Departure from Nepal” From Lash World Tour

Submitted by Lash

After quietly hiking the Annapurna Circuit trek in western Nepal, Lash comes out of being one with nature to find bombings going on around her in Nepal’s capital city. She must get out of Nepal to avoid the Maoist guerrilla activity, making for an interesting tale of luck and the ultimate hairy travel situation.

“Into a Soviet Bunker” From Katie Going Global

Submitted by Katie

Katie journeys into a Soviet bunker, circa 1984, just outside of Vilnius. The site is set up much as it would have been back in the day, complete with yelling guards and gas masks. Katie’s tour in this piece of Soviet history lends tremendous insight into what life was like for those living through this time.

“Last Minute Changes Are Not Appreciated—Morro Negrito Surf Camp” From Ordinary Traveler

Submitted by Christy

Ordinary Traveler recalls their experience with a surf camp in Panama. When the owner unexpectedly changes their accommodations days before departure and then says he won’t refund their money once Christy and Scott decide to abandon the idea, they are faced with some of the worst customer service. Their story is a good reminder to be careful where and with whom you book.

“A Village of Death and Memory in France” From Finding The Universe

Submitted by Laurence

Laurence visits the ruined town of Oradour-Sur-Glane in France, the victim of a German invasion just four days after D-Day. Essentially, the entire population of the town was tortured and killed. Laurence wanders the streets, left as they were on that day. His photographs and words offer a chilling look war firsthand.

“Not Knowing Where I’m Going” From Pack Your Passport

Submitted by Beverley

Beverley deals with a topic every traveler must face at one point or another, uncertainty. As she battles feelings of enjoying having a home base in Australia, she also must tackle her reasons for packing up and leaving that 9 to 5 job to travel. She presents the idea of embracing the uncertainty of life travel lends, even if it might terrify you.

Don’t forget to leave your submission in the comment box below. You have until the end of the day on Friday to submit.

I saw the sun rise over the plains of Colorado on my way to completing a secret goal. This past June, I drove from Denver to the California Coast. In September, I drove from Fayetteville, Arkansas out to the Carolina Coast. The only missing piece to this great American road trip, truly going from coast to coast in a year, was the lonely, often forgotten stretch from Denver down to Arkansas. And so when the opportunity presents itself, I joined an impromptu ride from Denver to Fayetteville and saw the sunrise, something I hadn’t seen in years.

While I could say this completion of driving coast to coast in America was a boring, flat drive, there are towns along the way that convince the doubters otherwise. One of those towns is Goodland, Kansas. A little groggy from rising at 5AM, I set out to find the home of the World’s Largest Easel. Just a few miles from the Colorado state line, I arrived in Goodland to see this giant roadside attraction.

Measuring 80 feet tall, weighing 45,000 pounds and holding up a reproduction of one of Van Gogh’s Sunflower paintings, the easel is appropriately positioned in the Sunflower State and in the town claiming to be the center of the local sunflower industry. This is no accident. Canadian artist Cameron Cross set out to create all seven of Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings around the globe, placing one in Goodland.

As I ham it up, pretending to be Van Gogh, I can’t help but be impressed by an otherwise nothing town for many. While I know that was Goodland’s intention, attract people who can’t resist an oversized attraction, I’m glad Goodland aided me in achieving the missing link to my coast-to-coast drive.

There is always something to see on nothing stretches, giant easels and all. The tumbleweeds and I might be the only ones appreciating this quirky attraction, but this moment is iconic America. Roadside fixtures like this easel are a taste of this country you only see thanks to a little bit of luck, careful research and an open road. In the meanwhile, I will get back to creating my masterpiece. Van Gogh was a redhead after all.

What is your favorite oversized attraction that you have seen on your travels? Have you seen Goodland’s World’s Largest Easel?

Two years ago this month, I decided to buy my name, online that is. While I had a Blogger blog long before, buying my domain name and starting this travel site proved to be much more official, much more real. I was opening up myself and my travels to whoever was willing to listen.

Luckily, enough of you decided to listen to this redhead. My motto from a young age was,  “I’m not the oldest, but I’m the loudest.” I guess I have taken a bit of that motto and used it here. I might not be the biggest of travel blogs, the most popular or unpopular, but I share travel. In the end, after two years of doing so, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

It seems almost weekly I get emails asking how to start what I started here. These emails usually take me the longest to reply to, not because I am all-important but due to the fact that they are the most flattering of emails to receive. I want to give them the proper time. I haven’t been to the moon and back. I don’t know SEO, as I probably should. I have good traffic days and horrible traffic days. I have articles that bomb and articles that boom. The fact that someone wants my advice about anything is gratifying.

The only advice I can give to those starting something similar to what I have here is to make it about travel and experience. I really don’t care how someone goes about traveling. I care if they try to go. I care about the emotions of travel. Anyone can pen those to paper or to the computer screen.

The problem with most things in life, especially travel, is that there is generally a hesitation to do so. We worry we don’t have enough money to make it work. The airfare keeps going up and up. And despite traveling for my job, I still reach those moments when I am forced to bite the bullet, to travel or to not travel.

When I haven’t traveled in awhile, I tend to get cranky. A depression comes over me that my routine is truly becoming routine. As I rang in New Year’s Eve with the flu, I decided it was time to stop making excuses about not traveling. I decided it was time to do something drastic, runny nose and all. And so I did what any respectable traveler ultimately does. They lose all practicality and book a ticket out of town. They push aside the many reasons not to go and find just one reason to click purchase.

I leave January 28^th for Munich, Germany. While I will only be gone two weeks, I plan on heading east to explore (hopefully) Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and possibly Romania and the Czech Republic. While I know that sounds like quite the itinerary for two weeks, I will work out the planning in the next few weeks. I haven’t sorted everything out and in the end, I think that is what travel and blogging should be.

I don’t know all there is to know about either area, but I am doing both the way that works for me. Travel is personal after all. We find connections in experiences so different from one to the next. They merely fit together from one style to another because we go. So Happy Blog Birthday to me! Thank you all for reading, promoting and commenting on this site. Here’s to more travels, experiences and stories from this redheaded temperament.

Have you been to central/eastern Europe? Do you have any suggestions for me on what to see and do?

From Tebow-crazed Denver, Colorado, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, place a link to the post on my Facebook page, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and tweet the article on Twitter. The following week, I highlight my five favorites to be featured here and the stumbling begins again into the next week. The goal of this segment is to bring to light those travel posts you might have missed, all while helping writers get more attention for their work.

Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one post per person each week. Your submission must be travel related. Leave a link to your entry in the comment box below. I will promote all articles submitted each week by the end of the day on Sunday. You have until the end of the day on Friday to leave your submission. If you leave your submission past Friday, I will just carry it over into next week’s submissions. Be sure to follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my stumbles on Stumbleupon and “like” me on Facebook to make sure I give your post the attention it deserves. Check back next Monday to see if your post made my favorite submissions of the week.

The 5 Favorites of Last Week

“Inside Earth’s Depths” From My Walkabout

Submitted by William

William heads out to explore lonesome Nevada in the winter, covered in old gas stations and towns left behind in time. He stumbles upon the Lehman Cave, lending down to a walk inside the depths of the earth.

“How I Fell in Love With Travel (aka That Time I Sang For Pope John Paul II in the Vatican)” From Green Global Travel

Submitted by Bret

Bret shares a unique story as to how he discovered the magic of travel. After meeting Pope John Paul II when touring with the Atlanta Boy Choir, Bret recalls his first moments of traveling through Italy.

“The Writing on the Ceiling” From L’appel du Vide

Submitted by Elizabeth

Elizabeth deals with the Catch 22 of trusting people while traveling. After being scammed in Morocco by a local “guide”, she wonders how travelers, especially solo female travelers, can keep open-minded about people and not fall into scams.

“And Now For Something Completely Different: 7 Reasons to Slag Off Jordan” From The Working Traveller

Submitted by Shane

With all of the press trips and blogger promotion swirling about Jordan, the Working Traveller shares a different side to the country, a viewpoint that might not, as of recent, been fully represented. This satirical post presents a few reasons why the country might not be the right choice to visit for everyone. The piece also calls into question the hotly debatable subject of press trips.

“Visiting The Sand Dunes of Mui Ne, Vietnam” From Always Twirling

Submitted by Peter

Peter ventures across the sand dunes of Mui Ne, Vietnam. Not exactly the landscape I expected to see when I think of the country, he climbs across these dunes for the views of lush forested trees surrounding a lake of water. A rare landscape indeed, the only aspect dampening the setting is the inevitable gusts of sand up one’s nose.

Don’t forget to leave your submission in the comment box below. You have until the end of the day on Friday to submit.

I turn the handle on a squeaky blue painted door in Clifden, hoping for a simple meal. That simple meal quickly turns into a complex conversation with the owner about the state of Ireland. As she laments the country’s recession, she says with a hope, “But it will get better.” Her words are simple, and yet so complex. Most worries are only temporary and believing in their passing is the best we can do.

Post dinner and discussion, she bids me good luck on my travels and I enter the colorful streets of Connemara’s capital. Clifden decorates in brightly painted shops and restaurants, generally forgotten in the winter and swarmed in the summer by tourists. I’m happy to be here before the swarm. The silent streets allow me to ponder the resolve of the Irish spirit that café owner possessed.

The next morning, I decide to explore the Connemara coast, an area north of Galway, comprised of rough bogs, valleys of isolation and of course the lapping waters of the Atlantic, the only element connecting me to my home.

On a short drive out of Clifden, I find a tiny sandy islet, one a few cars are driving across. Not wanting to get stuck with a rental car, the ultimate embarrassment, I enjoy the Connemara coast on foot, sinking like quicksand into the surface below me.

A lone boat keeps watch, alluding to the past by the peeling of its paint and its careless location. I wonder who owns it. I wonder who placed it here, perhaps just for the eye candy, for the typical shot of this unbelievable land.

As I head out of Connemara, I stop briefly at the Kylemore Abbey, first a castle built as a declaration of love later turned into an Irish Benedictine Abbey. Set up a few kilometers east of Letterfrack, the castle-abbey looks more 3-D puzzle than real construction.

And like most elements to Connemara, you almost have to pinch the picture in front of you to decide if it is fact or fiction. Post-pinch, I recognize Clifden and the rest of Connemara are composed of scenes of a tangible fairytale. The narrator of this scene, that Clifden café owner, reminds me that all fairytale settings come with a harsher reality. Then again, the harsh reality always gets better, as that Irish spirit would say.

Have you been to Connemara?

My personality has always been to obsess over something for a time. Once I obtain said obsession, whether it be some new shirt or home item, I move on to the next. I forget the last obsession and hone in a new one.  Like with items in my life, I tend to do the same with travel. I think I want to travel non-stop. I try it for a while by spending three months gallivanting around Europe. I find after three months, I am too tired and cranky to keep this up, having no real constant home. I read about another traveler, wandering from place to place solo. I go try it out in Ireland for a month and realize while solo travel is uplifting and creates a deep sense of self, I miss those travel moments with someone I know. Like with my latest material obsessions, I guess I tend to want certain travel styles, but in the end, I know my style. I’m the homebody traveler.

There might be snow, but it's home.

I enjoy nothing more than slipping into my own bed at night, waking up to know my Internet should work. The coffee will be hot. I am perfectly content on spending the day at home. I am a homebody in every degree. As a toddler I would be dumped off at my grandparents for I hated to shop with my mom. I would rather stay home.

To make this confession might turn off some travelers of the world. I should love the adventure of going from place to place. And while I do, there will always be a pull in me to return home for break, to lounge on the couch and soak up all of its comforts. Of course, I wouldn’t be writing here if I didn’t love to leave home every once in a while. I love so many things about travel, but not solely to make it all that my life is.

I read many other travel sites, articles and blogs, telling me of different travel styles: solo, couples, long term and nomadic. I hear each and every style’s benefits. I am constantly hit over the head with that obsession. Do I want this style or that one?

I'm leaving on a jetplane...

Be True To Your Travel Style

After 24 years, I have finally accepted my travel style, the homebody traveler. While I enjoy heading to a new place for a few weeks or even a month or two, I have to come back down to earth, come back home. I have to soak up a constant life before I head back out on to the road. I have to appreciate what I have and when I have it in order to find many aspects to travel endearing.

I travel pretty much every month of the year, but I also have an apartment I call home. I enjoy traveling throughout these two extremes, a home life and a travel life. Without the two, I would not be honest with my travel style. If there is one thing I have learned from trying other travelers’ styles it is that I fail miserably when I reject my travel style. Just because it isn’t the long-term style or the solo style doesn’t make it foreign. Every travel style should be different and no two are alike.

You Never Know Until You Try

Truth be told, I never would know that the homebody travel style is for me until I gave other travel styles a go. Getting up in Ireland, traveling to new places everyday or every other day, I grew exhausted. I knew this nomadic travel style wasn’t for me.

Sometimes we can be bombarded with other traveler’s styles of moving around the globe. In the end, you really don’t know what might be for you until you try it. I used to think I could never travel alone, and then I did. While I don’t think it is exactly my style, at least I gave it a go. While being a nomad isn’t my style either, at least I tried it.

Changing Travel Styles Is Not A Sin

You have announced to the world you are a nomad or that round the world adventure for a year comes to an end. What now? I often find these moments in transition interesting to experience and observe in others. I am guilty of worrying about changing what I have laid out. In the end, travel styles change with age, position and circumstance. Don’t be afraid to admit it’s not what you want anymore.

There is my confession. I’m a homebody who also loves to travel from time to time. I have been a nomad enough to know I’m not a nomad. I can be a solo traveler and I cannot be. I can travel long term and I can’t. I know my travel style now and I will embrace it from my cozy couch at home to the lumpy couch half way around the world.

How do you define your travel style? Have you tried traveling with other styles and found they didn’t work for you?