Travel two-for: NEXUS nets you Global Entry too!

Have you ever missed a flight whilst stuck in a US Customs & Border Protection lineup at the airport? I have, twice. The good thing is my kid takes missed planes in stride ("Yay! We get to stay in an airport hotel!"). But the even better thing is NEXUS  travelers now get free Global Entry privileges!

We recently applied for and got our NEXUS cards. We haven't broken them in yet, but we can't wait to use the NEXUS kiosks and breeze past customs on our next vacay. At $50 per adult, and nothing (that's right: nada!) for kids, it's a time- and grief-saving bargain, even if you only travel once a year. Even better: the cards need renewing just every 5 years.

It took about one month to get from mailed applications to personal interviews, to our ID cards arriving in the mail.

Et voila! Now we can pull into the super-short NEXUS express car lane at the Canada/US border (you know, for those trips to Target, or even better, Buffalo's boho-cool Elmwood Village), and of course, the speedy line at the airport.

Not every airport offers NEXUS, though. Until now, you either had to join the chumps in the long lineups, or pony up $100 each for Global Entry membership.

Not anymore: as of a couple weeks ago, NEXUSistas can stride up to any Global Entry kiosk at one of 20 US airports and scan our passports. Membership has its privileges.

Photo (customs lineup): Jason Payne, The Province/Canada.com

Resort review: Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe

Last month, the Little Nutball and I went on a press trip to the Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico (Riviera Maya). I asked the press trip organizers if the Nut could come with me if I paid for her flight (my trip participation was comped). They said sure, and it cost $600 US return on Expedia.com (Toronto to Cozumel, via American).

Long story short: We had a blast. We'd definitely return, and yes, it would be worth paying out of pocket for.

And that, my friends is the real test. As a newbie, one thing that still amazes me is how many travel journalists don't seem to bother traveling unless they're being comped!

I had an eye-opening exchange on a junket to St Kitts a couple years back. A long-time travel journalist and I were talking about the not-so-distant island of Montserrat, which he claimed to have been "dreaming of going to for many years."

My family had gone a few months before (it's where my partner and I got our PADI Open Water certification), and when he heard this, the first words out of his mouth were: "Who was the PR contact?" He was crestfallen to hear we'd financed the vacation ourselves: he was hoping someone was organizing press trips. He'd tried to get a comped trip, but had been unsuccessful. It was obvious dude wasn't going to be liming in Montserrat unless it was on someone else's dime (and their tourism bureau has a tiny piggy bank!)... But I digress...

Here's a straight-up resort review of Riviera Maya's Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe.

Family friendly? Yes! Great kids' club! Club Barcy was AMAZING. A posted schedule lets you know where to find the kids and counsellors at any given time of day--they move around a lot! The kids swam, played soccer on the beach, basketball on a palm-tree-shaded court, worked on crafts indoors, climbed a supervised and shaded playground, goofed off during drama activities on-stage at the resort theatre, chilled watching movies, went for buffet lunches or dinners as a troop.... The supervisors were all lovely and fun.

We've had some terrible kids' club experiences, so Club Barcy really sets itself apart as a 10+ kids' club. Stellar.

During a week-long family vacation, my partner and I typically use a resort kids' club for two days while we dive, and we'll also hire a babysitter one night if we want to go on a night dive. The rest of the week is family time. Interestingly, I think if we tried that the next time we head to Barcelo, The Little Nutball would throw a fit. I think she'd spend all day and night at Club Barcy, all week long, if she could. She LOVED it! (I did too.)

Rooms:  Hmm. What is there to say? Clean, modern, spacious! Minibars kept nicely stocked! Lots of closet space!

Food:  Excellent. They have an "a la carte" Brazilian steakhouse, French brasserie and Caribbean seafood resto in addition to the two buffet restaurants which are covered by the all-inclusive package.

The a la carte options were good, but oddly enough it was the buffets that were really enjoyable! Is that weird or what? Lots of healthy options as well as the usual American-influenced steaks, burgers, chicken, pizza, etc. There were some great salads (naked, so you weren't stuck with high-cal dressings), raw and grilled veg, lots of seafood (ceviche, grilled fish, fried fish, octopus salad etc), and they have these cute kids'-height buffets that the pudgy dads were all cadging burritos and chicken fingers from!

Beach: Great private beach! Powdery sand. Tidepools (we visited these day and night and found cool critters like nudibranchs, chitons, sea stars, fish galore, even an octopus!)

Activities: The concierge can book a treasure trove of local, off-resort activities. We visited Tulum, and also went on an amazing adventure tour that included snorkeling a cenote, Ziplining, rapeling and snorkeling with sea turtles. We had lunch in the jungle. It was awesome, although our guide was sorta obnoxious. I won't mention the name of the tour group because I forget, and in all honesty, they were neither bad enough nor great enough that it's worth noting who they were... There are several in the area, and the cost of our activity was about $100 each, including lunch and snorkeling gear.

Who should go? I'd say Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe is suitable for everyone: all ages, babies to seniors. The resort is very accessible to the mobility impaired.

The beach is lovely and there doesn't seem to be a problem with strong tides (although check before you go in--that could vary). Snorkeling is right on your beach, thanks to some reefs. We saw a huge eagle ray, as well as squid and lots of pretty reef fish and coral.

Activities range from vegging out by the awesome pools or in the spa, to booking an adventure tour. The resort has an onsite dive shop and a watersports activity centre with paddle boats, sea kayaks and hobie cats.

Go! You'll have fun!

The Grand Canyon!

The myth of the West has always fascinated me. (Likewise, the idea of westward expansion, Manifest Destiny, and similarly, the whole American "Don't fence me in" ethos. Although galling for the obvious reasons -- trampling on other people's land, developing the wilderness until one day there will be none, etc etc ad nauseum), at the same time, the West encapsulates the idea of the wild, the frontier, the dusty and daring.

Anyway: Arizona and the Grand Canyon. I've bought the research books, so we're looking at Summer 2012. It's hard to even think that far ahead, but once I make that book investment, I'm in. (Do you kick off your vacations this way? It's my favourite part, that decisive book grab.)

It's going to be awesome road tripping along kitschy Route 66. I've already found the tackariffic Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ (not to be confused with the other Wigwam Motel on Route 66, in San Bernadino, CA).

What amazes me is once you start looking at ranches, river-rafting operators, food and lodging, and so on and do the math, you're paying the same as for a dive vacation in the Carribbean. I find it hard to swallow that kind of cash without getting in a couple dives, but perhaps being splashed by the Colorado River will make up for it...

Do you have a make or break vacation must-do? Will you nix a destination due to its lack of something? (ie. high end shopping, outlet malls, healthy cooking, latte liberal atmosphere???).

Hotel Bedbugs

Not just the new scourge of the West, bedbugs remain a problem in Southeast Asia. Before booking into the Evason Phuket & Bon Island for our upcoming trip to Thailand, I searched online for recent bedbug problems. (Whew: nothing.)

Since becoming paranoid about bedbugs a couple years back, I do a quick bedbug sweep as soon as I enter any hotel room or resort suite. The last thing I want to bring home is these pests, even if they, unlike mosquitoes, do not spread disease.

Travelholics standard operating procedure
Time commitment: 3-5 minutes
1-Tell kids not to sit on anything upholstered
2-Place luggage on hard surface like the bathroom floor or a dresser or desk top
3-Pull back bedding: Check under pillows and inside pillowcases for creepy crawlies, shed exoskeletons, or dark specks (dark specks should be wetted with drops of water: if they turn ruddy you know they are dried blood, AKA bedbug poop)
4-Check under fitted sheets and on mattress surface
5-Slide mattress down from headboard, check there too
6-Lift mattress and check between mattress and box spring
7-Check wall for any telltale marks
8-Repeat on the other bed (I have to admit, I don't bother with the sofa or desk chair, but I guess if you were hyper vigilant, that might be something to do.)

So far, so good. My daughter loves helping, and frankly, having eagle-eyes on the case is very useful.

Our neighbours caught bedbugs before it was trendy and I'm always grateful we're not in an apartment or condo (yes, they can move from unit to unit).

Photo credit: Hotelchatter.com

iPad 2...when?!

I was all, "Why would I want an iPad?! It's not a laptop and it's not an iPhone. WTF?!" But then it suddenly occurred to me, mid-rant, that it's a FAMILY TRAVEL AID! I believe I was in the middle of muttering, "What would I use it for except to screen movies for The Little Nutball and maybe she could play Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja on it, too..." when a tiny 25-watt lightbulb went off in my head.

Portable DVD player #3 is almost dead. I think it has gout and diabetes from all the juice and chicken nugget crumbs clogging its system. Likewise, the DVDs themselves are a wreck, scratched beyond recognition. An iPad would solve all these problems: movies, books, games, all on demand with nothing to cart, besides the iPad itself, and a longer battery life to boot! (And no danger to my work files.)

For the weight savings alone, I think it'll be worth it. I carry enough stuff when I travel with my kid. (Love how her carry-on becomes my carry-on as well.) So now I'm 100% on the iPad bandwagon, but waiting for the 2nd gen to launch since it'll probably have a built-in camera, unlike the 1st gen model. Hope it comes out b4 our trip, otherwise, I may even bite the bullet and buy the old one.

Do you have an iPad as your travel buddy?

Sustainable seafood

Traveling to Europe? Foodie? Check out some the sustainable-seafood magic created by chefs participating in the Mr. Goodfish campaign.

The goal is to promote obscure, eco-friendly (ie. plentiful, responsibly harvested) -- and tasty-- seafood species like conger eel, mackeral, cuttlefish and others, while taking depleted species like bluefin tuna and codfish off upscale menus until stocks have recovered.

If anyone can give turn the humble cuttlefish into a gastronomic must-manger, it's chefs from France, Spain and Italy's leading Relais & Chateaux establishments.

Must haves for kid snorkelers

We like to get The Little Nutball into the water as much as possible. She's snorkeled in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Sea of Cortez, a cenote in Riviera Maya Mexico, Lake Ontario near our home (not much to see there!), and the local community centre swimming pool!

Here are 5 must-haves that will make it easier to get your kid snorkeling (and hopefully, down the line, ready and eager to take her PADI Junior Open Water Diver at age 10, and/or PADI Open Water Diver certification at age 15):

1-Swimming lessons. Snorkeling and diving aside, all kids should know how to swim, period.

2-A 2- or 3mm wetsuit. O'Neill's Reactor style has a good fit for athletic/slim kids and will extend snorkel/swimming time while providing full SPF and jellyfish protection. (My kid got zapped by a jelly in Cabo San Lucas 2 years ago and won't go into the sea without a wetsuit now.) If you're headed to Riviera Maya or Belize, you may end up cenote swimming, snorkeling or cave tubing. It can get COLD in there, so bring a wetsuit for your kid. They have less body fat and chill easily.

3-Mask, snorkel, fins. (Don't stand in line to rent, just bring your own!) Here are some Joe Squidz options, but my Nutball uses Aqualung.

4-A rash-guard, like this girls' model from O'Neill. A rashguard offers additional sun protection on land and in water, plus additional jellyfish protection when a swimsuit isn't enough but a wetsuit is too much.

5-Safe Seas jellyfish and 30 SPF lotion. Okay, to be honest, I'm not 100% sold on this product although  both The Nutball and I have used it a fair bit. The lotion apparently provides protection against marine stings by intercepting stinging cells using a bio-chemical process. You can read the whys and hows on the Safe Seas website. I've experienced some sea lice stings while wearing this product, but the pluses of using it are: My kid agrees to go into the sea (after the Cabo incident, she'll flat-out refuse otherwise), it also boasts 30SPF so you tackle two issues with one product, and finally, better safe than sorry, right?! She hasn't gotten any stings while wearing it, even if I have. She wears it on areas of skin not covered by her wetsuit or rash guard.

These 5 essentials are always tucked into our luggage. They add adventure and convenience to every vacation!