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All You Can Jet

30 Things I Learned During 30 Days of Travel

Since my All You Can Jet journey has come to an end, I thought I’d share some of the things I learned during those 30 days of travel.

1. Tommy Lee doesn’t like having his picture taken. Unless he’s on a boat. Naked.

2. In the Pacific Northwest, it’s believed that Portland has the most strip clubs per capita over any US city. The city has just over a half million residents, and more than 50 strip clubs throughout the city. I’ve read online that Springfield, Oregon passed Portland as the most clubs per capita in 2009, but either way, Portland is still up there. More than Vegas. Apparently these strip clubs also serve up some excellent food.

3. I love eating Handi Snacks Breadsticks ‘n Cheez, but I hate eating them in public. See, I’m kind of a “no cheese left behind” kinda gal, and I fully support licking the plate (or plastic container) clean. It’s pretty embarrassing to do while sitting on an airplane or in an airport. But with a little creativity, it can be done discreetly.

4. The Travel Channel may have played a part in making Voodoo Doughnuts famous, but their end of day deal should be a must for any doughnut lover on a budget in Portland (if you’re willing to gain a few pounds). They sell 5 gallon buckets of day old doughnuts for $5. That’s fresher than packaged doughnuts from the grocery store; and more unique flavors too!

5. The iPhone 4 doesn’t just suck in New York. It sucks all over America. I don’t know if it’s AT&T or the iPhone itself, but mine didn’t work in about 60% of the places I visited- big and small cities alike. Mostly dropped calls, and no internet/data service (even though it had full bars and a 3G signal). Oh, and the “extremely tough gorilla glass” on the LCD screen is not so durable either. The prong side of my power cord hit the screen from 2ft in the air and shattered it. Of course, AppleCare doesn’t cover cosmetic damage. They actually told me to call my renters insurance and file a claim, or go in to Apple and pay $200 to have the screen fixed (on a phone I paid $300 for). I’ve had this phone just under 3 months and it has already cracked twice. Pretty bad considering I had my 3G for two years and it never saw a single scratch.

6. I will no longer take New York tap water for granted. Of the 12 cities I visited, none of their tap water comes close to New York’s. I think it tastes better than most bottled water. San Diego was probably the worst I tasted over the 37 days. I heard Chicago’s is great, but I didn’t try it.

7. Seattle’s Sound Transit Link Light Rail is only a little over 1 year old, and cleaner than my apartment.

8. Los Angeles has a subway system. Who knew? I’ve always heard about how bad their traffic is, but I’ve never once heard anything about a subway system. It doesn’t look like it connects much of LA, but when I took it four stops it was much quicker than driving or taking a bus. Their public buses are a joke. Yes they have televisions on board for maximum [looping] entertainment, but you’d better leave four hours early. Or plan on being late.

9. When they say don’t travel to the Caribbean during hurricane season, they mean it. Unless you plan on spending your entire Caribbean vacation indoors.

10. This one may seem like a no brainer, but if you plan on visiting another country, check out the conversion rate BEFORE you get there. I figured since Jamaica accepts US dollars and I was staying in a prepaid all-inclusive hotel, I’d be okay with a $20 bill and my ATM card. Well the cab to the hotel was $30, so I immediately had to stop at a Jamaican ATM. I didn’t have cell phone service to check the conversion rate, so I had to trust what the cab driver told me to withdrawal (which was a pretty scary feeling, especially since I didn’t have more than a few hundred dollars in the bank to begin with). The Jamaican conversion rate is 86.855 Jamaican dollars for every 1 USD. $30 USD ended up being something like 2600 Jamaican dollars. I’ve never in my life felt more uncomfortable than when I stepped into the private locked ATM machine, and typed in a $2600 withdrawal with a line of people standing behind me.

11. Never make a phone call from a foreign country without a calling card. And make sure you’re using a designated hotel phone that will not charge you a connection fee, or a per minute fee on top of the calling card fee. Even though the credit card rate advertised may only be 50 cents a minute, they have all kinds of hidden connection fees. You’re better off just not making any phone calls. This isn’t the first time I was wrongly informed of how much a phone call to the US would cost.

12. Cool Runnings fans (there’s still some out there, right?) should check out the Jamaican Bobsled Cafe on the Hip Strip in Montego Bay. I didn’t get to see it, thanks to Tropical Storm Nicole, but they have the original Jamaican bobsled from the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

13. Despite how clean the city looked, I’m pretty sure one of the most disease-infested alleys in America is in Seattle. The saliva-filled “bubblegum alley” in Seattle’s Pike Place Market is fairly similar to the Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California. Is it weird that I had a strong urge to lick the walls?

14. Sunset is a great time to go up in the Seattle Space Needle. You can see the city in the daylight, sunset, and dark all within about an hour.

15. The 60th floor Sky Lobby at the JP Morgan Chase building in Houston provides a panoramic view of the city for free. It is the tallest building in Houston, and the 50th tallest in the world at 1002ft high. It is also the tallest 5-sided building in the entire world.

16. I-90 ends in Seattle. I’ve taken I-90 from my hometown in Toledo, West to Chicago and East to New York more times than I can count. I had no idea that had I missed the Chicago exit, I would have ended up in Seattle a few days later.

17. A man named Carl Fisher invented the car headlight, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Miami Beach in the early 1900s. He also began developing Montauk in Long Island New York as a “Miami of the north” tourist attraction before being cut short by the Great Depression.

18. The San Diego Zoo is expensive, and definitely not on a budget traveler’s agenda. It’s supposed to be worth every penny, but at $37 for the cheapest 1 day pass, I couldn’t afford to see for myself.

19. If your car breaks down on the Pacific Coast Highway, don’t count on your cell phone to call someone. Well over half of the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco I was without service.

20. If you’re riding shotgun and hoping to take pictures along the Pacific Coast Highway, drive south. It’s easier to be on the outside than trying to take pictures past the driver’s head. And if you can, make time for a few stops along the way. Just make sure you take better pictures than I do.

21. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the world.

22. The show Most Extreme Airports on the History Channel ranks San Diego’s airport as the 10th most dangerous airport in the world due to its proximity to the mountains and downtown. In order to keep the noise down in the surrounding area, planes are allowed to take off between 630a and 1130p, or else face a fine. Arrivals are allowed 24 hours a day.

23. Apparently it does get hot in San Francisco. And there’s no air conditioning so you just have to suffer.

24. I stayed on Grant street, which was the first constructed street in San Francisco. It was originally named Calle De La Fundacion.

25. Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills trumps any cupcake I’ve ever had in NYC (yes, even the dry, overrated cupcakes at Magnolia). And they’re opening their first NYC store in Feb 2011, on Lexington between 60th & 61st.

26. Willamette Valley in Oregon produces some of the best and most inexpensive Pinot Noir in the world. I chose one based on the cool label, called The Four Graces, and it was by far the best low price wine I’ve ever had. Willamette Valley also appears as the end destination in The Oregon Trail.

27. Recycling bins on the streets of New York make me happy. But an abundance of compost bins out on the west coast? Incredible.

28. Nineteen of the world’s 25 largest hotels (by room count) are on the Las Vegas Strip.

29. Hostels are a perfectly cheap place to sleep in a new city. I stayed at my first hostel in Seattle, and although it was a huge difference from the hotel rooms I’m used to, a girl on a budget can’t complain. It was only $35, and since I only needed a place to rest from 9p-5a, I couldn’t justify spending much more for a hotel.

30. Traveling is a lot more fun when you don’t have to go back to work afterwards.

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All You Can Jet

Day 2: 10 Hours in NYC

The rain held off for my second day in Houston. As much of a random stop it turned out to be, I’m glad I was in Houston and not some of the other parts of Texas. According to The Weather Channel, Houston got about 3.6″ of rain on Tuesday (which only delayed our flight about 20 minutes as we circled in the air waiting for the storm to move through). Other cities in Texas saw up to 12 inches of rain with severe flooding, wiping out and damaging houses and cars. Dallas even saw a few tornadoes pass through the area.

I checked out of the Days Inn on Fountain View Drive and had a 30 minute conversation with the manager Nuhron Raniga. If you’re ever looking for a basic, affordable place to stay in the Houston area, I’d stay here just to have another chat with this guy. He was born in South Africa, and has spent time living in cities and countries all over the world. Yet another great aspect of travel: meeting people from all over the world and realizing how truly diverse we all are in our daily lives.

Sam picked me up and we had lunch at Wings and Things, which I’m pretty sure was a chain restaurant. It wasn’t anything spectacular inside, just what you’d imagine from a small chain named Wings and Things. Good wings though. We ordered 10 wings, a water, and a coke for $12 and some odd cents, so I didn’t break the bank treating Sam to lunch for all of his generosity. And for the record, I could really get used to these prices outside of New York.

Since jetBlue doesn’t fly from Houston to Portland, I took a flight back to JFK before heading to the Pacific Northwest. I met some more awesome people in Houston, unfortunately a little too late since I was minutes away from leaving the city, probably never to return. Two jetBlue guys, Timothy and Ozzie, were jealous of my All You Can Jet jacket at the gate. They hooked it up with some contacts and tips on how to look for hotel deals in some of the cities I’ll be visiting. They also told me about Terminal Man from last year who slept in airports along his journey, and in each city the jetBlue employees would try to outdo the last one with accommodations.

Bottom line, I haven’t met a rude jetBlue employee yet- unlike so many other airlines whose employees  have an attitude every time you ask a question. Another jetBlue guy, Bill, snapped that photo above of me, Timothy, and Ozzie before boarding the plane.

Bill ended up getting on the plane in the seat behind me— which I didn’t realize until he tapped me on the shoulder as we were pulling away from the gate and said “smile for the camera! That guy, Timothy that you took a picture with is taking a picture of the plane. Wave!” I couldn’t see him because the wing was in the way, but sure enough, by the time I landed in New York, I had these pictures in my inbox, along with a new Facebook friend.

I landed around 730p, and made it home by 9p. I had a lot more stuff to do than I thought- finish packing, pay bills, print more business cards, and of course watch the latest episode of Mad Men, so I didn’t make it to bed until close to 230a. Now it’s on to Portland! Stay tuned for much more interesting updates and pictures from the Pacific Northwest.

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 1: Houston, We Have a Problem

Day 1 of my 30 day adventure saw a bit of turbulence, both in the sky and on the ground. But I must say that I’ve never had so much fun in an airport. As I’ve mentioned, this is my first experience with jetBlue, and so far they’ve been amazing! After passing through security at JFK, I grabbed a Sharpie and stopped by the “give us the scoop” wall to promote the blog:

I was even interviewed on video about my trip by some of the jetBlue staff. Maybe they’ll put it up on their website? Then I grabbed one of the free, comfy, AYCJ jackets, and a free donut before heading off to my gate. Free is my favorite price, especially when it’s actually cute and/or delicious!

Once on the plane, I enjoyed the luxuries of even more free stuff that jetBlue offers- a Doritos snack mix, Welch’s orange juice, and DirecTV. I didn’t have to pay for a legit meal until 6pm today!

About two and a half hours into the flight, I flipped past the weather channel to see that a tropical storm was tearing through Southern Texas, and the weather for Houston was looking similar to what I’d imagine tornado season in Kansas is like. The descent down to the airport was a bit bumpy, but thankfully the worst of the storm was on its way out of the area. Seriously though, where the hell did this Tropical Storm Hermine come from?

After landing safely in the pouring rain, I called my friend Matt to pick me up from the airport. He lives in Boston but was traveling for work so we decided to meet up down here in Texas. Somewhere along the line, after several discussions about airports, hotels, and cities, there was a miscommunication. He was in Austin, not Houston! I couldn’t believe it! After freaking out for a minute, I was able to quickly get in touch with a friend back in New York who used to live down here. Thankfully his friend Sam agreed to come pick me up and take me on a tour of Houston both by car and by foot. He made it to the airport in 45 minutes, and we spent the entire day driving and walking around in and out of the rain, checking out the city. The two highlights of my trip so far were 1) seeing the old Enron building:

and 2) the view from the Sky Lobby in the JP Morgan Chase building:

Sam set me up in a hotel for the evening, and is coming back in the morning for us to stop by a few more places before heading to the airport. I’m a girl on an extreme budget— so extreme that I’ve packed instant oatmeal and granola bars for the majority of my meals. I’ve already spent about half of my initial budget for the entire trip on this unexpected hotel room tonight, so I’ll really have to keep on eye on my spending for the rest of the month! Stay tuned for money-saving travel tips, and please, feel free to share some of your own!

We stopped for a drink at the Armadillo Palace, where I paid only $2.25 for a bottle of Lone Star. Then we had dinner at a Tex Mex place called Cafe Adobe, which quite honestly wasn’t anything special. Sure it was good, because I don’t think I’ve ever had any form of Mexican food that wasn’t good. But it wasn’t any better than some Tex Mex food I’ve had up in New York. I had the cheese enchilada, queso and guacamole tostada, along with refried beans and rice, and fried ice cream for dessert. I order fried ice cream any time I see it on a menu, so believe me I’ve had my share. This dish had pecans rolled into the mix, so that was a bit of a welcomed twist. Different, but good.

So far, Houston isn’t really what I thought it would be like. I think it resembles Florida in many ways, and Detroit in others. It’s a different kind of city than what I’m used to, especially New York. It’s very spread out, with lots of integrated neighborhoods. The ghetto isn’t necessarily sectioned off into one small area, neither are the super nice areas. It was hard to take pictures in the rain today, but I did manage to snap a few. Check em out here on Flickr.

Back to JFK tomorrow to get ready for Portland, Oregon!