5 Travel Tips for Your Next Summer Vacation by Liwen Y. Ho

With school out and warmer weather on the horizon, many people find the summer months are the best time to travel. If you're planning a trip somewhere soon, here are five tips to make your next vacation more efficient and enjoyable.

1. Save space in your luggage by rolling your clothes instead of folding them. You'll also end up with less wrinkly clothes!
2. Use a pill container to sort and store your jewelry.
3. If you forget the wall plug-in for your phone charger, you can use a USB port in the back of your hotel TV to charge your phone.
4. If you get sunburned and don't have aloe on hand, brew a cup of Earl Grey tea in your hotel room and place the teabag on the affected area.
5. Put your hotel room number in your phone, so you have one less thing to remember.

What travel tips do you have? I'd love to hear them as I prepare for our family vacation next month!

Speaking of traveling, my upcoming release is all about the wanderlust spirit. 

After Macy Grant breaks up with a man who won’t commit, she escapes heartbreak with a weekend on the seas. The last person she expects to meet and fall for is entrepreneur Jake Olsen. A believer in love at first sight, he seems perfect for her in every way … then her ex-boyfriend shows up on the cruise ship with a ring.

Pre-order it today by clicking HERE! 

You can get a sneak peek into Macy and Jake's world by checking out the book's inspiration board on my Pinterest page.

Liwen Y. Ho is an Amazon bestselling author of contemporary romance, both sweet and inspirational. A marriage and family therapist in her pre-author life, she enjoys creating realistic characters and helping them find their happily-ever-afters. She lives in California with her techie husband and their two munchkins, and blogs about life as a recovering perfectionist.

She has written three novellas in the Taking Chances series and also four short stories in the Seasons of Love series.

She'd love to hear from you! Find her online here:

Amazon | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube

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Summer Plans

Do you have a trip planned for this summer? Memorial Day weekend is just ahead. My wedding anniversary is coming up in June. Father’s Day is shortly thereafter. Then the Fourth of July… Official holidays, personal celebrations, or a getaway – maybe you have a special go-to place like a mountain cabin or a beach house, or do you like to see new places and fresh faces when you get away? 

My husband and I have been talking about getting away. Several times over the past year we’ve discussed and planned, but stopped short of actually booking a trip. Life, I guess. Family obligations that can’t be accounted for within a schedule like my mom in a memory care unit, or job obligations, or – you name it – there’s always something ready to hold you back from taking off on adventure. 

We planned to take a trip to the UK in May but didn’t go through with it. We’ve looked at cruises, not really caring where it sails, but only wanting to be on the ship and watch the ocean go by. We’ve considered short, more local trips to the shore or to the mountains, but each time I pull my Go-For-It finger back from the keyboard. Not yet. 

So when? Will it be when this current book project is finished? There’ll be another to write. As for family – there’s no guarantee of health and stability on any given day or week regardless of age or condition, so timing may be a gamble, but waiting is a sure way to never get away. Or do you just enjoy the planning more than the actual trip? Many do.

What holds you back? Whether it’s from traveling or doing something else you’ve dreamed of? What keeps you anchored in the planning stage, never to take off and do it? Where would you go if you had the chance to travel without restriction?

~:~:~

Grace Greene writes women's fiction and contemporary romance with suspense. A Virginia native, Grace has family ties to North Carolina. She writes books set in both locations.

The Emerald Isle books, BEACH RENTAL and BEACH WINDS, are set in North Carolina where "It's always a good time for a love story and a trip to the beach."

Or travel down Virginia Country Roads in KINCAID'S HOPE, A STRANGER IN WYNNEDOWER, and CUB CREEK and "Take a trip to love, mystery and suspense." Her newest release, LEAVING CUB CREEK, is the sequel to CUB CREEK.

BEACH RENTAL, her debut novel, won the Booksellers Best contest in both the Traditional and Best First Book categories. BEACH RENTAL and BEACH WINDS were each awarded 4.5 stars, Top Pick by RT Book Reviews magazine. KINCAID'S HOPE received a 4 star review from that same magazine.

 

Grace lives in central Virginia. Stay current with Grace's releases and appearances at www.GraceGreene.com and sign up for her newsletter. Grace loves to hear from readers.

You'll also find Grace here:
Twitter: @Grace_Greene
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GraceGreeneBooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Grace_Greene
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gracegreeneauth/
Amazon's Author Central: amazon.com/author/gracegreene

Traveling with Pets by Ginny Baird

When you travel, does Fido come with you, or do you make arrangements to leave any furry friends at home? We’ve tried it both ways, and—although it can be a bit restrictive taking a four-legged friend along—we’ve discovered that, with a little advance planning, it can be done!

My husband and I have always loved taking our English Style Labrador Maggie to the beach, where she can run and swim to her heart’s content. She’s a very well-behaved dog, so we’ve taken her to visit relatives too, including my elderly Mother, who is crazy about her.

This fall, we experimented with something new: taking Maggie on her first official “road trip.” We were traveling from Virginia to the Tennessee mountains to see family, and then heading to Asheville, North Carolina. It was early November, but we still caught some changing leaves, which were glorious!

One thing I discovered is that the Chamber of Commerce of some towns provides an online listing of dog-friendly restaurants, shops and accommodations. While health codes prevent people from bringing any animals but service dogs indoors, a few restaurants have outdoor seating where pets are welcomed.

We were lucky to find a nice Bed and Breakfast in Jonesborough, TN that happily accommodated us and our pet. We also made a cool discovery in Maryville, TN. Did you know The Quinta Inn allows dogs, and does not charge a pet fee? While the accommodations weren’t elaborate, they certainly were suitable and a buffet breakfast was included.

During our final stop in Asheville, we rented a dog-friendly cabin tucked away on a mountainside and overlooking the city. It was a nice way to round out the trip, and provided yet another perspective on pet-friendly accommodations. It was probably my favorite place to stay, since it gave all of us a little more legroom and freedom to roam around. This was especially important on our first day there, when it rained cats and…um…dogs!

To help the car ride go smoothly for everyone, I packed a bag for Maggie containing some of her favorite toys, snacks and her regular food from home. We kept to her normal eating schedule as much as possible, and were sure to bring a large water bottle specifically for her—which we used to pour water into her traveling dog dish. Hubby and I brought sandwiches for the road, so we wouldn’t have to worry about finding a pet-friendly eatery between our major destinations. We also made sure to stop every few hours to give Maggie a walk and get our own circulation going. In this way, having her with us was probably good for our health, as well!

How about you? Do you travel with pets? If yes, are there any tips you can share? Please add them in the "Comments" section.

*~*~*

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Ginny Baird writes contemporary romance novels and novellas. Download Book 1 in her Holiday Brides Series, The Christmas Catch, for free at Amazon, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

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