Archive for August, 2009
What better way to see Maui than on the company payroll? If you are planning a business trip to Maui, you can still take advantage of the opportunity to have a mini-vacation and enjoy the magnificent Maui without sacrificing the work you know you are there to do.
There are many different things that you will need to take into consideration if you are planning a business trip to Maui. First, you will need to know if your company will be booking the travel and accommodations for you. Some companies that deal a lot in travel have travel agents that will take care of this for you. Others will expect you to make the plans and arrangements yourself and you will then be compensated for the expenses.
If you will have a role in choosing some or all of your business reservations, then the more you know, the better decisions you will be able to make. You need to know how to book your hotel or living accommodations as well as your travel (including to your destination and how you will get around once you are in Maui) as well as food and other necessities that you will have during your stay in Maui.
Accommodations
Every business traveler knows that your office is very important and this includes your “makeshift” office while visiting in Maui. You will need a full range of services and facilities and accommodations that can provide that to you will be at the top of your list. Accommodations that provide that for an affordable and reasonable rate are even better.
So, if you need accommodations with business features that include up-to-date communications capabilities and much more, then you need to know where to look. There are hotels, condos and more in beautiful Maui that offer solutions for your global business right at your fingertips.
There are many state of the art facilities with full Internet connectivity and real-time video conferencing services available and much more. Maui is home to one of the seven National Supercomputing Centers as well. Maui isn’t just for honeymooners and families; there are even great features for the business man or woman as well.
What to Wear
If you are planning a business trip to Maui, you might be wondering what to pack. Well, what you where will depend on your profession, your business and the company’s dress policy but most companies that send you on a business trip to Maui will say “casual dress”.
However, you know that business is very important and you are not just some tourist. What you wear will be very important even if it is to be considered “casual” dress. So you need to know what is appropriate to wear. The climate is of course warmer in Hawaii and the atmosphere pretty laid back so you will find most people in shorts. Your best bet is to go with some nice, dress shorts such as khakis. You will see many businessmen in these shorts as well as Hawaiian print button front shirts. If you are having trouble knowing what to wear or what is in style, you can check with some of the local shops and stores in Maui. Most upscale shops also have sales associates that are qualified to help you in your decision.
There are some restaurants and facilities that require you to dress upscale and elegantly with men in long pants and proper shoes. However, due to the climate you will find that most places in Maui are perfectly suitable to wear shorts. However, you will want to have some nice clothing from an upscale shop or boutique and be sure the clothing fits you well.
Dining
Your dining options will depend on the meal and what you are doing. For example, if your company is footing the bill, they may have specific places they want you to dine at or they may have a specific budget for meals. This will place some facilities and restaurants out of the list unless you are paying for it yourself.
If you are planning on taking a client to dinner or meeting business partners in a restaurant, or in some other way doing business through the restaurant, you will want to be choosier in the place you select. Your choice of restaurant can say a lot about you and your company. You want the other parties to be comfortable in the place that you choose but you will also want to choose something professional and impressive that shows you know and understand good tastes.
It can be tricky ground so you should ask for advice if you are unsure about a particular restaurant. You might even decide to go by and check it out yourself before holding your business meeting there.
Whatever it is that brings you to beautiful Maui, you can enjoy your stay while you are here. Proper planning ahead of time can ensure you have everything you need for a comfortable business trip to Hawaii.
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Today was Italian Labour Day, a big national holiday that presented the perfect opportunity to do a little out of town excursion: a drive around Mount Etna. So together with Jill, a co-student of mine from England, we rented a little two-door Lancia to go on a country driving tour. At 50 Euros the rental was not exactly inexpensive, but we figured it would be worth it to be able to explore the countryside around Taormina.
First we had to deal with fuelling the car: our rental car was essentially empty and we were supposed to only put about as much fuel into the car as we thought we would use up so we’d be able to bring the car back empty as well. The gas stations were officially closed on this holiday, and unlike in North America, there was no option to use a credit card for payment at the pump. The pump, however, did have a little slot where you could feed in bills and one of the local drivers patiently took his time to explain the system to me.
With enough fuel to get us a couple of hundred kilometers we set off on our country excursion. At Giardini Naxos we turned inland towards our first destination: the “Gole di Alcantara”, the Gorge of the Alcantara River which is cut from black basaltic rock. The signs on the country road pointed towards the parking lot for the Alcantara Gorge, so we parked our vehicle and entered the complex. A simple 20 minute tour to see the river and the strange rock formations would cost 3 Euros, while longer tours and wading tours through the river are available also. We descended several sets of stairs to get down to the riverbed from where we got a good look at some of the interesting rock formations. Unless you wanted to walk through the river, there was no other place to go than back up through another set of stairs.
Once at the top we found out that if we had taken this entrance we would have been able to view the gorge for free. We were a couple of hundred meters away from our parked car and by the roadside there was a little stand which actually was the tourist information booth for this inland area. Two ladies supplied us with a range of brochures and information about the villages surrounding Mount Etna, and I have to admit that the service was better and more knowledgeable than the tourist office in Taormina, which happens to be a much bigger tourist centre.
We decided to explore a few of the gorgeous hilltop towns which are patched up against the rocky outcrops, providing an amazing vantage point of the surrounding countryside. Following a sign for a village called Motta Camastra we turned into a winding narrow road that was slowly taking us to the top of this crag. At the bottom of the town there was a public parking spot and we figured it was better to park our car there and walk up than to try to navigate the unimaginably narrow roads that were snaking through this little hilltop town.
Just as we had parked our car a local resident in his fifties started shouting at us in Italian from his balcony and waving at us. It took us some time to realize that he was actually inviting us up into his abode for a beer. We graciously declined, and continued our walk. Jill commented that local Sicilians had been showing a marked amount of interest in her and attributed it to her noticeably pale English complexion. After about a 10 minute walk through tiny cobble-stoned walkways we reached the main square which featured a bar with about 20 older men sitting outside. Most of them were wearing caps similar to French berets and they were engaged in a very spirited discussion. Not a woman was to be seen.
Our walk continued to the ancient church and from there we followed a walkway past narrow houses to a lookout point overlooking the entire mountain area. Sleepy cats were lounging lazily on the pavement, here and there women were watering flowers in front of their apartments. The vista towards Mount Etna, the Alcantara Valley and various mountaintop villages perched precariously against different rocky outcrops was breathtaking.
After Motta Camastra we decided to explore another one of these hilltop towns and following a beautiful drive through a countryside full of vineyards we reached a place called Rocella Valdemone about 45 minutes later. We parked the car right next to the old town church and strolled across the piazza. At the other end of this public square we saw the obligatory bar which again featured about 15 to 20 older gentlemen fully engrossed in an animated discussion. My guess was they were probably discussing soccer. We got the definite impression that tourists don’t come here very often because we certainly stuck out like a sore thumb and the locals were looking at us a bit as if we were a novelty. Again, women were conspicuously absent, with the occasional exception who was sweeping the pavement in front of the house and then disappeared inside again.
Nature was calling and we asked at the bar if we could use the bathroom. One thing about Italy is that there are very few public washrooms, but fortunately local bars are quite easy-going about their facilities being used by non-paying strangers. This particular facility was in rather abysmal shape, though, and when I came out of it I instructed Jill to make sure not to touch any of the surfaces for fear of contracting a horrible communicating disease. The facility did the job, but it certainly was everything but a shining example of hygiene and cleanliness.
Our driving tour continued with a drive into the mountain area. Tree cover got sparser and all of a sudden we were in a mountain area that must have been about 1500 to 2000 m high with a beautiful 360 degree view northwards and eastwards down to the sea and southwards and westwards towards Mount Etna. Hundreds of local Italian families had their cars parked in small side roads that were leading onto what looked like pasture lands for goats and they were having picnics. We didn’t seem to see any tourists at all, and we realized that this is what Italians do on a public holiday in Sicily: they go for a picnic in the high mountain areas surrounding Mount Etna?.
We had come prepared ? before our departure we had picked up some prosciutto, cheese, fresh buns, fruits and drinks at the local supermarket in Taormina and this was our time for our very own little picnic. Due to the chilly wind that was blowing on this high mountain plateau we actually stayed in the car to eat our lunch, but nevertheless our view out the windshield was simply gorgeous.
After a very satisfying improvised meal we drove back down from the mountains towards Mount Etna, past a large number of parked cars whose owners had gone hiking somewhere in this mountainous terrain. At an intersection a local woman was selling home-made cheeses and sausages, evidence of Italian culinary craftsmanship. We neared a town called Randazzo, with the volcano majestically draped in the background which impressed us with its Cathedral of Santa Maria, which was started in the 13th century and rebuilt several times. The bell tower dates from the 18th century, an example of the various different styles composing this imposing church.
We started our leisurely drive around Mount Etna, at times right next to the Ferrovia Circumetnea, a small-gauge railway that encircles Mount Etna for about 90 km between Catania and Riposto. Terraced vineyards spread far in front of our eyes, and the drive through little towns like Maletto, Bronte, Adrano and Paterno was enjoyably peaceful. Once we approached the coastal side east of Mount Etna things got a lot busier. We started realizing that this was indeed a public holiday and all the locals were out and about. The traffic was starting to get crazy. Continuing through Nicolosi, Trecastagni, Zafferana Etnea (where saffron used to be cultivated, introduced by the Arabs), we continued through Giarre and Fiumefreedo di Sicilia towards Gardini Naxos, located right on the Ionian Sea.
The traffic in the coastal areas was now enormous and beside the road along the shoreline stretching north of Giarre, thousands of cars were parked, belonging to people who had been enjoying a sunny day at the waterfront. We continued through Giardini Naxos at a crawling pace. This resort town south east of Taormina was founded in 735 BC by the Greeks and represents one of the oldest Greek settlements in Sicily. We drove past Isola Bella and Mazzaro and took the northern entrance into Taormina and got into a major traffic jam where we sat virtually without moving for about 45 minutes, a distance that should have taken us about 5 minutes under normal circumstances. No doubt everybody was on the road.
It was a relief to finally have reached Taormina when we drove through the tunnel underneath town to reach the rental company on the western side of town. Just like the roads had been full of people, the town of Taormina was now packed with people strolling. Thousands of people were milling up and down the main strip, Corso Umberto, and we were literally rubbing shoulders with the other walkers. We decided we would have dinner outside of the city gates on Via Pirandello, where the pedestrian traffic was not quite as crazy and grabbed a nice table on a terrace at Trattoria Da Lino’s, a little restaurant where I had already had a couple of chats with the owners who recognized me and gave me a friendly hello. From the terrace we had a great view over the northern part of town and the Ionian Sea below us. After a filling pasta dinner we received a little free treat: a tasting of Amandola liqueur (made from almonds) on the house ? a great way to cap off an exciting day to catch a rest for another day of Italian lessons?
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In the early part of the year camping and RV shows are the most prevalent although some popular shows take place in the fall too. But in the Midwest where I live, most camping and RV shows take place in the first few months of the year. Here’s my top 11 reasons why you should go to one, or even two or three!
1) It’s a way to get your mind off winter, the cold, and the snow for a short time. While you’re at the show, you’ll be thinking of summer, sun, green trees, and campfires; not shoveling snow or wearing 12 layers of clothing in an attempt to stay warm.
2) You get to be around really nice people. People who camp and RV are, for the most part, really friendly and outgoing. While at a show last weekend I had people joking around with me and striking up conversations about camping and the campers we were both looking at. It’s a fun environment.
3) Comparison shopping. At the larger shows there are literally hundreds various campers and RV to look at. You can go inside them, look around, and talk to the dealers about each one’s pros and cons.
4) Discounts and Freebies. The dealers and exhibitors at the camping and RV shows want people to do business with them during the show and make it attractive by offering special show prices on their campers and RV’s; and/or giving additional items with a purchase such as free upgrades, free gas, a free grill, free camping lounge chairs, etc. Most exhibitors have some sort of giveaway. It may be a drawing for a grill, nights of camping or may be free samples of food their selling. The show itself may give away prizes. The latest camping show I was at was giving away a brand new camper to one lucky prize winner.
5) Class A Motorhomes. Whether or not you own a Class A Motorhome now, plan to own one in the future, or think you’ll never be able to afford that luxury, it’s worth the price of your admission ticket to tour the luxury Class A motorhomes at the shows. I toured three at the last show I was at. The nicest one had a $400,000 price tag. It was gorgeous. I overheard one woman saying the kitchen was much nicer than the one in her home. I can understand why she said that. The kitchen area in that particular Class A motor home had solid cherry cabinets, solid surface countertops, and tile flooring.
6) The Seminars. Even if you aren’t a camping enthusiast you may find the seminars offered at most of the shows to be of interest to you. The seminars are usually short in length, 30 minutes or less, but are packed with interesting information. The latest one I attended talked about some of the best vacation destinations in my state, the most scenic roads to drive, the best nature areas to visit, and some of the most unique and weirdest places in the state. I’ve lived in the state all my life and I didn’t know about several of the places I was told about. I now have some new weekend getaway and vacation destinations.
Now that I’ve given you my six top reasons to attend a camper or RV show, get out there, go to one, and have a great time.
