Tag: General Travel

Hurricane Milton Closures

Storm Closures

As of Monday, October 7, 2024, Hurricane Milton has been upgraded to a Category 5 and is projected to make a direct hit across Tampa, Orlando, and most of Florida later this week.

Evacuation orders have already been given to several areas near Tampa. Orlando and Tampa airports have announced closures. Some attractions have announced closures and changes to cancellation policies. Of course, more changes will likely be made as it gets closer. Check with your specific transportation, lodging, cruise, and attraction source.

For the latest information on the following locations, please visit these sites:

If you have a trip to Florida planned through the upcoming weekend, it will most likely be affected. Please modify your travel plans or check for changes if you still have to travel. Work with your travel sources or your travel agent.

Of course, it is more important for everyone to stay safe. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for everyone in the path of the storm. Be careful!

Amazon Prime Day 2024

Amazon Prime Day

The annual Amazon Prime Day event starts today!

I’ve compiled a list of travel related items that I’ve found useful on my trips and some of them have Prime Day deals. If you have any other items that you love from your trips, please let me know so I can check them out too.

Purchasing your Amazon items through my affiliate links will help support my sites so I can bring you more travel news, tips, and info. Thanks for your support!

Travel Products
View My Travel Products List

Please contact me if I can help you plan and book your next trip.

adventuresbyanne@gmail.com

Amazon Prime Day

Don’t Take Pics of the Total Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse Path of Totality

Don’t take pics of the total solar eclipse tomorrow, April 8, 2024, with your phone or camera! The stronger sun rays can damage your gadget’s lens.

For the same reason that you should not look directly at the sun during the eclipse since the sun’s rays will be so strong, you should not aim your phone or camera at it either. It can cause serious damage if you’re not using the appropriate solar lens filters. Just figured I’d mention it since we’re just so used to snapping pics real quick of everything nowadays that we may not even think about that. Myself included.

Instead, use your phone to safely watch a professional’s livestream instead if you must and take some screenshots. NASA will have a webcast from 1pm to 4pm EDT where you can watch live.

If you do have the appropriate solar lens filters, here is some information for taking pictures of the eclipse:

Otherwise, there are many creative ways to view a reflection of it instead, such as making those pinhole reflection boxes. Some locations are giving away those fashionable paper eclipse glasses, though I imagine they’ll run out fast. They sell them on Amazon and other places too, but make sure they are legit certified and approved ones. Don’t just use regular sunglasses either. They won’t provide enough protection for staring at the sun.

More eclipse and eclipse viewing info here:

Many locations, including some national parks, colleges, and science museums, are holding eclipse viewing parties. Search “eclipse viewing near here” for events near your local area.

If you’re planning to travel to locations along its totality path, plan for huge crowds and traffic! Most hotels are already sold out too. Plan accordingly.

A total eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and Earth line up in a row with the moon directly between the sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth. Totality occurs when the moon covers the entire sun except for the corona. The next total solar eclipse over the United States won’t be until 2044, so catch this one if you can!

Happy eclipse viewing!

Eclipse phases from the past

National Plan For Vacation Day

National Plan for Vacation Day

Did you know that today, Jan 30th, is National Plan For Vacation Day??

This was created to remind us to plan our vacations for the coming year. Don’t lose your vacation days. Planning ahead can usually get you better pricing than last-minute bookings and give you more time to save up and design a better trip. If you’re dealing with the winter doldrums, this will give you something to look forward to also.

Many cruise lines, hotels, and attractions, like Disney and Universal, have sales going on already. Some of the major National Parks require timed entry reservations, and tours and campgrounds are already open for bookings too. Lock them in before they sell out.

Whether your vacation is across the globe or a local staycation, two weeks long or just a long weekend, start planning now. Contact me if you want help with vacation ideas and bookings.

AdventuresByAnne.com

AdventuresByAnne@gmail.com

Road Trip Prep

Road trip

Since we are doing a much longer than usual 3-week road trip this year, much more planning and prepping is involved. I’ve compiled a list of planning steps and tips to hopefully help you too. Check out how I planned our itinerary, plus packing and other prepping info.

Feel free to contact me if you want me to help you plan your trips too.

Let’s go!

Time For More Road Trips

Road trip

Phew, there’s been so much trip news lately! But now, it’s time to get back to more road trips!

We’ll be doing another cross-country road trip, a giant 3-week loop across the USA, visiting many National Parks and other exciting sites! Follow along!

Subscribe to my site to get my trip posts and emails.

adventuresbyanne.com

If you’re on Instagram, Follow my channel there to see all the pics.

https://instagram.com/adventures_by_anne

@adventures_by_anne

Instagram

Bring the road trip snacks!

Leaf Peeping

Do you love the colors of Fall foliage? I do! Leaf peeping season is officially in full swing now for most of the northern United States and moving across the country fast!

If you are planning a trip to some popular viewpoints, do so within the next few weeks before the leaves fall off and book early before hotels fill up.

If you are not sure of the best places to go, start with a search for “fall foliage near <location>“. To check the peak dates for a location, search for something like “fall foliage forecast for <location>“. Also, look for live webcams for a given location if you want to see what the locations currently look like. A lot of places have them.

We just did a mini road trip yesterday driving through northern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania, and the southeastern part of the Catskill region in New York to check out the situation there. The leaves are definitely starting to change, but not fully at peak yet. Probably by next weekend though. I’ll have more details in a trip recap coming soon and more pics on my Instagram, but the above pic is a quick preview for now. Stay tuned!

If you would like me to help plan your leaf-peeping trip, feel free to contact me.

Sending you some virtual apple pie that we made with NY apples we got on the trip.

Apple pie

Happy Fall!

Amazon Virtual Tours

Amazon Virtual Tours

In honor of Amazon Prime Day today, here’s a quirky virtual trip idea for you. Did you know that Amazon gives tours?? I didn’t until recently.

These tours give you a live peek of the Amazon Fulfillment Center’s process of picking out the purchased item through shipping it out to you. Maybe you can spot an item you bought today. LoL. There’s even a Q&A session at the end. It could be a fun 30 minutes if you need a little virtual trip.

For more details and to reserve your free session, visit this Amazon Tours page.

Now, let’s go look for some Prime Day deals. Let me know if you’d like me to do a post on some travel-related favorites that I’ve found on Amazon. Not sponsored!

Amazon Fulfillment Center

Pics ©Amazon

More Hurricane Idalia Updates

Sea World update

At this point, almost all Florida locations and transportation suppliers have updated their websites with the latest Hurricane Idalia changes. Please visit their sites directly for the latest information.

As of August 29, 2023, SeaWorld Orlando has issued an update for their park operations due to Hurricane Idalia approaching Florida.

Busch Gardens Tampa will close at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, August 29. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will also be closed on Wednesday, August 30. Normal operations will resume on Thursday, August 31.

Adventure Island will be closed Tuesday, August 29 through Thursday, August 31. Normal operations will resume on Friday, September 1.

SeaWorld Orlando will open at noon on Wednesday, August 30.

Aquatica Orlando will be closed on Wednesday, August 30. Normal operations will resume on Thursday, August 31.

All date-intended tickets for closure days have been extended through August 31, 2024, and require no action to be taken.

Discovery Cove will operate normal hours on Tuesday, August 29, and will be closed on Wednesday, August 30. Normal operations will resume on Thursday, August 31. Rest assured, our Guest Services team is prepared to assist you with shifting your date to a surrounding date. Please contact our Guest Services team, you may email dco-guestrelations@discoverycove.com. Please include your reservation number and “Hurricane rebooking” in the subject line of the email.

As usual, any of this can change as the hurricane gets closer. Visit the SeaWorld Orlando Weather page for the latest updates and details on their Weather-or-Not Assurance program.

If you are in the path of the storm, I hope you stay safe. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you.

©SeaWorld