Get into this boutique hotel by Marriott. (I will tell you the name after I leave!) The hotel is stunning and fabulous and that’s really all I need to tell you about Day 1. The pics below speak for themselves!
Here’s to Day 1! Xoxo, Bri Alys
I will be talking my first post-COVID and annual solo trip this week to the magical West Palm Beach, FL. Excited!!! When I first visited WPB in 2019 I decided to ditch Miami and make this my new “thing.” But COVID …. 😤
I am ready explore more of this great city and to digest all the newly imposed travel-related nuances before my family vacation later this month. I be blogging daily so be sure to subscribe! I am also planning to try my hand at vlogging for my YouTube Channel. Sooo … let’s see how that goes! 🤗
Each blog/vlog will be a day behind so expect posts Tuesday – Saturday (my travel dates are Monday – Friday). We will be eating, shopping, spa’ing together – and more! Florida here I come!!!
Xoxo, Bri Alys✨
*feature pic not my own
With vaccine advances related to coronavirus, travel will likely pick up this summer. I already had a slight phobia (called impatience) standing in long lines at the airport. The recent stories of long lines (better known as chaos) don’t make travel any easier of a pill to swallow.
My savior? Elite status. Due to years of loyalty (~15), my Marriott Titanium status is on lock for life (yay upgrades and free food!). After I obtained that, I turned my attention to Delta and it finally paid off. Welcome Platinum status through January 2023! And just in time for the pandemic travel fiasco.
I will not stand in long lines. I will continue to enjoy the comforts and their concierge lounges and I was able to gift my 2-year old son Silver status. Now my attention turns to keeping it. Let the travel planning begin. Happy summer!
The Ultimate Staycation is a second home in the same city. I literally can’t make this stuff up. I have an idea that sounds crazy to most… I explore the topic by Googling it and wallah… others are doing the same!
Four years ago the Wall Street Journal wrote an article describing how couples from New York to Florida to California are pursuing this trend. Here are a couple of examples from the article:
See also: 👀 After rash of racist incidents, Airbnb partners with NAACP to help Black people cash in (The Grio) #airbnbwhileblack
During the month of July I expect to have long commutes one day a week. Of course my OCD-like behavior (as well the well-known dreadful Atlanta traffic conditions) has me researching how to best maximize my travel time to/from work. There are lots of services available out there that seek to capture and keep your attention, so how do you pick which services/features to pay attention to? How do you know where to start? Keep reading below for my recommendations!
Since the obvious goal during a long to commute is to get home as quickly and safely as possible, we MUST start with a travel app. There are many available including Google Maps, Apple Maps, Mapquest (yes… that still exists 😳) and Waze. I’ll just jump ahead and tell you right now that Waze wins and will be at the center of my long commutes. Not because it’s such a great app (it is! users report crashes, cop sightings, slowdowns, etc.); but, more so because Waze plays nice with others.
Let me explain. Yes, I will be commuting; but, I also want to do other things to help the time go by faster and ease the pain. I want to do things like listen to music, audiobooks or podcasts. When I say Waze plays nice with others I mean it seamlessly integrates with other apps or services. For music, it’s Spotify. For Podcasts, Stitcher and for books, Audiobooks. These tight integrations or hook ins allow you to select songs/playlists/books right from within the Waze app itself. There’s no need to leave the Waze app itself to start listening to another service.
(By the way, this post is a great synopsis of what I do for a living… software and process integration. I spend my days focusing on optimizing user experience for the software we use to run our business for things like taking orders, billing customers, etc. and automating those processes. I identify opportunities for integration/automation, lead projects to implement them and also streamline (or lean) complex processes to make them simpler #techie 💁🏽♀️)
Now, you may prefer Apple Music over Spotify; but, for me the days of tech giants producing great isolated products/services are over. Partnerships (or tightly integrating with others) will always prevail and Apple is not so good at that part yet. Waze, on the other hand, makes integrating easy. Because Waze will be at the center of my long commutes and I value integration, I choose the following:
Now, don’t get me wrong. All of these services are great and honestly, any one in isolation will do the trick; but, if you want MORE, go with services that tightly integrate with other services/features you also value. Your life will be easier because of it!
5 reasons you’ll use Waze over Google Maps
Bri Alys, LLC 