Over the Rainbow?
Tired of tripping down the same old brick road? If your travel horizon is as flat and gray as Kansas in black and white, it's time to banish that wicked witch of a travel agent and upgrade your vacations to technicolor.
By Sabrina Holcomb
Another frenetic school year is coming to an end, and you probably feel like somebody has dropped a house on you, too. But things are looking up, because NEA Today has found some fun and unusual vacation spots that give a whole new meaning to somewhere over the rainbow. No matter what your budget, a little imagination and information can go a long way. Tour NEA Today Extra for specifics, but read on for ideas to get you started.
Life Is a Buffet
Food Fantasies
Illustrations by Jim Nuttle
Photo by Berit Myrekrok
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Sweet news, chocolate lovers! Somebody out there understands you because scrumptious, delectable, over-the-top vacations worthy of a true chocoholic really do exist. Visitors to the annual Great Chocolate Fest in New Brunswick, Canada, can compete in a chocolate-chip cookie decorating contest, a chocolate hand-dipping contest, and a chocolate treasure hunt. The American Club in Wisconsin holds an annual "In Celebration of Chocolate" event with a different theme each year because the chefs are not allowed to repeat a recipe.
Traveling by sea? Chocolatier Magazine sponsors special chocolate cruises that offer seminars on everything from chocolate sculpturing to the history of chocolate, and passengers on Norwegian Cruise Lines to the Caribbean can nosh on treats like chocolate pizza and chocolate sushi from an afternoon chocolate buffet. Then there's Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, where visitors can make their own chocolate products and the truly sybaritic can indulge in a chocolate spa with whipped cocoa baths and chocolate sugar scrubs. At home? Order chocolate products online for your own spa treatment. Get together with friends for a chocolate potluck and share recipes for chocolate appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
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OVERLANDING "This past spring, my wife and I 'overlanded' our way from Istanbul—through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and across Sinai—to Cairo, Egypt. Overlanding is a way of covering a lot of distance in a small amount of time for a reasonable amount of money. Ten of us traveled by truck. We each contributed $300 to a kitty that covered all our group expenses, and everyone shared the cooking and the chores. My chore was to unload the tents each night from the roof of the truck and repack them the next morning. Trip highlights included dawn service on a Gallipoli beach to commemorate the 1915 Allied landings, reading newspapers in the Dead Sea, snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba, and the famed hospitality of the people. Travel is what helps us see each other as humans in an interconnected world."
—John and Elizabeth Reinsborough, Retired Teachers
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Vegetarians, are you tired of being an afterthought on the dinner menu? There's a cornucopia of options, if you just know where to look. The Vegetarian Resource Group in Baltimore, Maryland, helps vegetarians and vegans with their travel plans. Spiritual Guides' Vegetarian-Restaurants.net lists vegetarian restaurants and natural food stores in all 50 states, and VegDining.com has a world map of vegetarian restaurants. The Vegan Passport, published by Vegetarian Guides, explains in 38 languages, with accompanying photos, what vegetarians and vegans can and can't eat. At home? Treat yourself to products from Fresh Body Market, a vegan line of skin products packed with real fruits and vegetables.
If you're looking for a combination culinary & cultural experience, you can visit the Food of the Gods Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, for cooking classes, wine receptions, craft tours, ice cream and exotic fruit tastings...you get the idea. And if your favorite fare is traditional home cooking (called legacy cooking by food historians), there are "To Grandmother's House We Go" cooking tours through Mexico and Italy. At home? Have relatives contribute to a family cookbook filled with recipes, photos, and journal entries, then pack the car for a visit to your very own grandma.
Call of the Wild
Adventure Quests
Photo by Creatas & Glen Allison
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If you'd rather snowboard than surf and your idea of a "cool" vacation involves lots of snow and ice, you'll really be wowed by the Ice Hotel in Sweden. There you can have a drink in an ice glass at an ice bar, eat Lapland specialties on a plate of ice, and sleep on an ice bed. Or you can visit Norway's Alta Igloo, the world's northernmost ice hotel, where you can spend a night in an igloo village, see prehistoric rock carvings, and view the northern lights on an expedition to the North Cape. Not cheap, we know, but great specials for destinations like this abound online. At home? To cool down in the summer heat, throw a skating party at the local ice rink complete with a snow cone machine and other icy treats. Better yet, try something new by signing up for skating or ice hockey lessons.
So you've been on a sled before, but have you been on a dogsled? If you're looking for a cool new ride, Alaska Dog Sledding in St. Michael specializes in small-group dog mushing trips into remote Alaskan wilderness, and Wintergreen Dog Sledding Vacations in Minnesota offers a variety of dogsled vacation packages and workshops. closer to home? The next time you're on a ski vacation, visit a nearby kennel for a tranquil dogsled ride through the woods.
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PET PICNIC "This summer, I'm flying from my home in Virginia to the small town of Roundup, Montana, for a very special weekend. A hundred people and their dogs are gathering from all over the country for a 'schipnic,' a schipperke dog picnic. We're all on a schipperke e-mail list, and I'll be meeting many of my 'e-friends' for the first time. I can't wait to see the beautiful countryside of Montana, eat an authentic Western meal from a chuck wagon, and watch a real cattle roundup in Roundup."
—Lorrie Quackenbush, Middle School English Teacher
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If you have the soul of a romantic and a taste for the exotic, you may want to kick up a little dust on a camel safari in India's Thar Desert, where you'll explore palaces, ancient fortresses, and medieval cities. At night, you'll camp at an oasis, count the brilliant stars, and listen to the haunting music of a sitar. closer to home? You don't have to travel to India to ride a "ship of the desert." There are camel safaris in California, Utah, Nevada, Texas, and even Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Discover the World LTD
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If you need to get above it all, try hot-air ballooning. Balloon enthusiasts say that floating 500 to 2,000 feet above the ground is the perfect way to "travel." Want more of an adrenaline rush but still want to commune with the sky? Then skydiving is your sport. A freefall skydive from 14,000 feet is the closest thing to flying you'll ever experience. at home? You don't have to travel to exotic locales to ride a hot-air balloon or go skydiving. Chances are, there's a company near you that offers adventurous souls a chance to soar.
Go to the Head of the Class
Teacher Specials
Photo by Digital Vision
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It's the travel industry's way of giving you a nice, shiny apple—lower prices, special packages, even free trips for educators. At the top of the list is the Educators Bed & Breakfast Travel Network, owned and operated by Norm and Hazel Smith, two NEA-Retired members who offer a fabulous service to traveling educators. For the incredible price of $34 a night for two, educators can stay almost anywhere in the world! How so? Members of the B&B Travel Network (more than 6,000 in over 50 countries) stay with other members who open their doors and spare rooms to fellow teachers.
Why should Ms. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus have all the fun? Your "ride" may not turn into a submarine or space shuttle, but you can still take advantage of free, discounted, and low-cost vacation packages available to teachers. You just have to do a little homework to find the one that's best for you. First, check with your state Association to see what travel packages it offers members—packages and discounts vary from state to state. Some companies specialize in affordable educational tours for teachers and students: Explorica, for example, lets teachers travel free if they lead a group of students, gives them bonuses up to $2,000 for leading a large group, and allows their family and friends to tag along at a discount.
Nature lovers, if you own a tent or an RV, you can camp for three "free" months at the John Pennekamp Coral State Park in Key Largo, Florida, where you can enjoy kayaking, canoeing, glass-bottom boat rides, snorkeling, and scuba-diving—all in exchange for helping to maintain the park for 20 hours per week.
There's No Place Like Home!
Virtual Vacations & Other Stuff
Photo by Digital Vision
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No matter how far down the yellow brick road you travel, there's still no place like home. That's why the best vacation you have this year may just be in your own backyard—whether you're traveling from the kitchen to the outdoor grill or voyaging through virtual space. Just think: virtual travelers can tour exotic locales, chat with other "tourists," download pictures of their "trip" for the scrapbook—and still be home in time for dinner. High school teacher Rita Jo Swingle may just have the right idea. She asks: How about Just Stay at Home vacations?
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BY THE BOOK "I read The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge with my children and took them on a trip inspired by the book. We walked across the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, then sailed around the real lighthouse. That vacation led to my book, A Travel Guide Through Children's Literature."
—Hope Blecher-Sass, Elementary School Teacher
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"Most of our kids and families are constantly on the go. We're never at home to enjoy the fruits and labors of what we spend our working lives to build. How many historical sites or resort areas are right around the corner from your own home? How about picnics in your own backyard? What happened to badminton, family dinners, sitting on the back porch listening to crickets in the evening, nature walks, county fairs, fireworks, evening ice cream rides—or just enjoying home? This is the true vacation of the 21st century!"
Check out links to the "vacations" in this article and more travel adventures from NEA members.
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