A Festive Easter at the Merrion in Dublin

There Is Still Time to Plan an Irish Holiday Escape

With three festive packages and a colorful Easter Egg Hunt in the hotel gardens, The Merrion in Dublin is the perfect escape for all or part of the long holiday weekend with the family.

The Easter Weekend Family Package includes three nights for two adults and two children in interconnecting Garden Wing rooms (one double and one twin), breakfast each morning, a family brunch in The Cellar Restaurant on Easter Sunday and The Merrion’s festive Easter Egg Hunt in the gardens where resident ducks swim in the pond.   The three-night package is valid from March 21 to March 24, 2008 and costs €1,725 (approximately $2,588) per family for three nights.

The Easter Family Fun Offer includes two nights for two adults and two children in interconnecting rooms in the Garden Wing (one double and one twin) with breakfast for the entire family each morning. The package also includes a Dublin Pass for free entrance to the best attractions, such as Dublin Castle and the Dublin Zoo, a one-way journey for each on the Aircoach from Dublin Airport and substantial discounts in shops and restaurants all over the city. The package is valid for any two nights from March 21 to March 24, 2008 and costs €1,190 (approximately $1,785) per family for two nights.

An Off to the Races Package is also available for Easter Monday fun on March 24, 2008.  The package includes accommodations for one night in a deluxe double or twin room in the Garden Wing with two tickets to the Irish Grand National at FairyhouseRacecourse on Monday and full Irish breakfast on Tuesday morning.  The one-night package costs €160 (approximately $240) per person based on double occupancy. 

The Merrion is a union of four landmark Georgian townhouses, one of which was the birthplace of the Duke of Wellington, combined with a specially commissioned contemporary wing that wraps around beautiful private gardens.  With its extensive art collection, intimate drawing rooms and working fireplaces, the hotel is an ideal home base for enjoying the festivities and exploring the riches of Dublin.

For reservations, please contact The Merrion directly on 353 1 603 0600, The Leading Hotels of the World on 1-800-223-6800 or send an e-mail to reservations@merrionhotel.com.  To know more, visit www.merrionhotel.com.

 

Source:  Geoffrey Weill Associates

travel vacation ideas

Escape Your Location: How to Become Free From the Office

One of the best aspects of my life as a freelancer is the freedom it provides. I can (and do!) work from anywhere in the world. Have laptop, will travel…

But you don’t need to be a writer to escape the confines of your location. If you’ve ever wanted to be free of the office and do your work from anywhere in the world this Zen Habits article offers 10 great tips for making the dream a reality and becoming a “Location-Independent Professional” (click the link below for the full article):

1. Dare to dream. The thing that holds most people back is that they don’t allow themselves to dream. Sure, it might be a passing fantasy, but they don’t give their dreams a serious thought. But what’s to stop you? Money? Fear? Overcome those measly little obstacles and allow yourself to dream.

2. Discover your passion. Many times, it’s not enough to just do a job from wherever you please — it’s best if it’s a job you love to do. I’ve written about this before (Finding Your Passion the 10th habit in Zen To Done), but I think many of us get stuck in a job just because it’s what we’ve been doing … without thinking about whether it’s something we love to do. This year, I’ve discovered I’m passionate about blogging, about writing, and I’m working to turn this passion into the way I make my living.

3. Do your research. Read about how others have achieved this dream, what steps they took to get there, and what their lives are like now. A great source is Lea Woodward’s new e-book, “X Marks the Spot“. It’s a great read, full of information on how to achieve this independence, written by someone who is actually living the dream. I highly recommend it. Buy it here.

4. Explore your options. What are the various routes available to you to get to your dream? Keep your mind open to opportunities, to new ways of doing things you’re good at doing, or that you love doing. Think about ways to add income streams into your life, instead of relying on a single income stream. Look at ideas that others are implementing successfully, and see if those are good options for you. In the early stages, it can be useful to look into many more options than you’re actually going to choose in the end … and even give a few of them a try to see if they might work for you. See these blogs, to start with, for ideas: Location Independent, Rat Race Escape Artist, and Escape from Cubicle Nation.

5. Lay out a plan. Once you’ve begun exploring your options, you can start laying out a roadmap to get to your dream. Now, understand that this roadmap will change as you go along — think of it as a living document rather than anything set in stone. You’re exploring new territory … it only makes sense that you’ll discover new things, learn as you go, change your mind about some things, and find new options you didn’t even know existed. But the key is to write your plan down … so you have a guide to keep you on track.

6. Consider a gradual transition. J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly (he’s one of my biggest inspirations for becoming a blogger by the way) did an awesome post about taking the plunge and pursuing his dream. While the entire post was great, one of the things I loved about his plan is the gradual transition. J.D. isn’t just quitting his day job all at once. He’s weaning himself from the job one day at a time, over the course of a year. This gives him the chance to adjust to all the changes of quitting his job. While you’re considering your options, you might consider this one.

7. Take action. It’s all well and good to make a plan, and to allow yourself to dream, and to consider options and all that — these are necessary steps — but the best-laid plans sitting on a shelf don’t do us much good. You gotta take action. Today. Don’t put it off until next month or next year … do something today to get yourself closer to reality. Then tomorrow, do another thing. One step at a time, you’ll get the ball rolling, and you’ll get there eventually. But without that first step, you’ll get nowhere.

8. Reduce your needs. This isn’t a necessary step, but it’s a good option to consider. Lea Woodward, in the above-mentioned e-book “X Marks the Spot“, says that while she and her husband did reduce expenses, they tried to avoid a “scarcity mentality” … which I think is an interesting idea. But the truth is, if you don’t have as many expenses, you don’t need as much of an income … and that means that your dream is much easier to implement. My favorite book on this is Your Money or Your Life, one of the most amazing personal-finance and life-changing books you can read. YMOYL shows us how each purchase and each expense represents a cost to us in terms of our life … we must work a certain number of hours for everything we buy and spend on. That’s something worth thinking about … are you willing to work extra hours for the things you buy and spend your money on, or would you rather use those hours doing other things?

9. Simplify your work. This, of course, is one of the great themes of Zen Habits (to start with: one, two, three, four, five, six) … but it is especially relevant here. If you want to work on your own, and liberate yourself from the office, you’d be wise to simplify what you do. Eliminate the non-essential tasks, streamline your workflow, focus on the tasks and project and clients with the absolute biggest potential and long-term benefits.

10. Outsource and automate. One of my biggest sources of inspiration, Tim Ferriss’ excellent book The 4-Hour work Week, gives you some great tips on how to eliminate the non-essential and focus on what matters most. But some of the most interesting parts of the book are the sections on outsourcing your life and automating your business. Those parts alone could have been a separate book. They’re not something that everyone will want to implement, but they’re most definitely interesting options that can help many people achieve their dreams.

Click here to read the full article online at  Zen Habits

Move Your Creative Side to Center Stage at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops

Follow your passions and expand your relationship with photography - Join Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.

Looking for your next adventure, or simply a fun week exploring your love of photography? Join Santa Fe Photographic Workshops  for a workshop experience in historic Santa Fe, New Mexico, and change the way you see the world.

Or, sign up for one of their on-the-road workshops and tours in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Tuscany, and Provence,  Ireland, Australia, Morocco, Thailand, Tanzania, Big Sur, and the coast of Maine.

Uproot yourself from the ordinary routines and obligations of home and catapult yourself into a world of new challenges, insights and inspirations. With self-expression as a key component of all their offerings; move your creative side to center stage.

Do something for yourself this year and…

 

• Stimulate your creativity.
• Invigorate your passion.
• Expand your skills.
• Discover new ways of looking at photography as an expressive medium.
• Find your voice through creating images.
• Learn to use the latest  digital imaging technology.

 

For more information call 505-983-1400 or visit www.santafeworkshops.com.

 

 

Mothers & Daughters - An African Adventure

Meet The Women & Children of South Africa With This Unique Mother’s Day Tour

The Cultural Explorer, a US-based tour operator specialising in cultural and philanthropic travel in South Africa, has announced an exclusive tour “designed to introduce adventurous North American mothers and daughters to the resilient women and children of South Africa.”

The trip, billed as a “celebration of women”, offers an ideal opportunity for mothers and daughters “to spend quality time together while improving the lives of others, seeing spectacular sights, even going out on safari.”

According to Cultural Explorer, travellers will visit innovative organizations that work to improve the education and work skills of disadvantaged women in South Africa, meeting several women along the way who have “made a real difference in their communities”.

Guests will experience gourmet and traditional foods and stay in charming locally owned hotels and B&Bs. They will also visit an exclusive game reserve dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the wildlife and communities around it.

The trip, running from 3 to 17 May (taking in Mother’s Day on 11 May) and from 7 to 21 June, “will change perspectives and lives”.

Tour itinerary

Cultural Explorer travellers will start in Johannesburg, staying at a chic, woman-friendly boutique hotel with an organic cafe and a huge fitness centre right next door.

While in Johannesburg, the group will visit the vibrant townships of Soweto and Alexandra, meeting and sharing experiences with some special township women, and shopping at stores that promote the arts and crafts of disadvantaged women. The city tour will take in the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill and downtown Joburg.

Then it is off to the majestic Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, where travellers will stay at a charming resort hotel with magnificant mountain views, a swimming pool and easy access to a variety of walking trails.

While in the Drakensberg, travellers will visit Didima Valley to learn about the San, or Bushmen - the first inhabitants of the area - and view some of their ancient cave and rock paintings.

The highlight, however, will be a get-together with Miss Lillian and her family in a small Zulu village where they survive and thrive with no electricity.

Next up is a quick stop in the coastal city of Durban, staying at an elegant hotel off bustling Florida Street. Then it is off on safari - with a leisurely drive north to a luxury, eco-friendly game reserve where the group will spend two full days observing African wildlife.

During the day travellers will search for cheetahs, lions, elephants, rhinos and giraffes, while at night safari they can enjoy a massage on their private deck listening to the sounds of Africa, or a sundowner with the other guests.

Next is South Africa’s up-market Garden Route, where travellers will stay in the local’s favourite resort town of Knysna, while checking out small coastal towns such as Wilderness and Plettenberg Bay.

Guests will meet Selina, an inspiring Sangoma (traditional healer) who lives in a township above Knysna where she “proves that one woman really can make a difference.”

From there the group will take the picturesque drive to Cape Town, stopping in one of the oldest towns in South Africa, Swellendam, for lunch. In Cape Town they will stay at a traditional hotel along the Atlantic seaboard. Here the guests will meet women from the townships, an Afrikaans mother and daughter, and women entrepreneurs.

They will take excursions to Cape Point and Simon’s Town - to see the jackass penguins - and of course, Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for more than 20 years.

“All long the way, Cultural Explorer travellers will have plenty of time to get massages, take walks or workout, relax on the beach, tour interesting galleries and shops, and discover unique gifts to take home.”

Costs and contacts

This trip is for women only, and for ages 15 and above, as travellers will witness and discuss the impact of Aids on families and communities.

The trip costs $4 599 per person, including: all hotels, all group ground transportation including airport transfers, all entrance fees, all safari costs, all meals as indicated, and driver/guide expenses (except tips).

Not included in this cost are: international or domestic air travel, the domestic flight from Durban to George, alcoholic beverages except where included in dinners, personal expenses (laundry, cleaning, room service, massages, tips), and personal transportation expenses apart from group activities.

For more information, contact Pat Walker at +1-415-387-7593 or visit www.theculturalexplorer.com.

 

 

 

SOURCE: eTN

Artist-In-Residence Programs

You’ve probably visited a few of the National Park Service’s network of almost 400 environmental, cultural and recreational sites. But did you know that you can apply to live inside a national park as a special guest for a few weeks without paying rent? Imagine being surrounded by sea views and dramatic cliffs in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, or observing elk, bighorn sheep and the endangered California condor in the untamed wilderness of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. Simply apply to be an Artist-In-Residence at one or more of the 29 National Parks currently participating in the program.

To find out more about Artist-In-Residence programs, visit:
http://writersdigest.com/articles/kane_artist_in_residence.asp

Just in Time for Valentine's Day: A Jet-Setter's Guide to Romantic Getaways

Looking for The Ultimate Romance Getaway This Valentine’s Day?

 

From extravagant “Will You Marry?” packages to one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, here are a few romance hot-spots sure to please.

• The Merrion, Dublin, Ireland (www.merrionhotel.com)

Arguably Dublin’s most romantic hotel, The Merrion offers a Will You Marry Me? package designed to make a proposal as memorable as it should be.  And one of the ingredients, a beautiful Jaeger LeCoultre watch, literally pays for the hotel stay. Will You Marry Me? costs 4,750 Euros (approximately $7,000) per couple and includes a deluxe room for one night in the historic Georgian main house; a bottle of champagne; full Irish breakfast for two; rose petal turndown service plus the pièce de résistance: a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso watch engraved “Will You Marry Me?”  The watch alone retails for appoximately $7,000…which means the rest of the package is on the house.

 

•  Fouquets-Barriere, Paris (www.fouquets-barriere.com)

Inspired by Robert Doisneau’s Le Basier (The Kiss), photographed in Paris in 1950, Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere, a palace hotel on the Champs Elysées, has created an unprecedented opportunity for guests to recreate this special moment.  The new Paris C’est L’Amour package includes a one-hour photo shoot with a professional black-and-white photographer on the streets of Paris and even includes a make-up session. To top it off, couples enjoy a “Paris-by-Night” tour in either a chauffeur-driven 2CV convertible or a Peugeot C6.  The package also includes caviar and champagne, breakfast each morning, a champagne dinner at the hotel’s Le Diane restaurant and transportation to and from the airport.  The cost is 1,599 Euros (approximately $2,400) per night based on double occupancy for a minimum of two nights.

• Hassler Roma (www.hotelhassler.com)

The Hassler Roma’s famous view from atop the Spanish Steps is as good as it gets on the ground but now the hotel takes views to an even higher level with the Roman Skyline Package.  The package includes three nights in a Classic Suite, a 30-minute helicopter ride over the rooftops of Rome, private limousine service to and from the heliport, daily buffet breakfast, an exclusive tasting dinner at Imago, a bottle of Prosecco, a signature body-care gift, daily fruit, flowers and transfers to an from the international airport for 6,570 Euros (approximately $9,500).  Valid until February 28, 2008. 

• Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (www.orient-express.com)

The legendary Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a luxurious setting for the World’s Most Romantic Celebration, a journey from Venice to Paris showcasing the glamour of train travel.   After three nights in a deluxe suite at the Cipriani Hotel in Venice, guests dine in style and enjoy a cabin suite while the legendary VSOE train travels through the Italian, Swiss and French countryside to Paris where a one-bedroom suite at Le Meurice is waiting. From there, guests take a sidetrio by private Mercedes to Reims in the Champagne region for tastings and lunch at the two-star Michelin Chateau Les Crayeres. Shopping, touring and a candlelight dinner cruise along the Seine round out the experience which runs $24,750 per person for seven nights.

• Panoramic Hotel, Iguazu, Argentina ( www.panoramic-hoteliguazu.com)

With a location only fifteen minutes from Iguazu Falls in Argentina, one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, the new Panoramic Hotel Iguazu is the place to keep “falling” for your chosen one.Set magnificently on a hill where the Parana and Iguazu rivers meet, the hotel has panoramic views of the rivers and the triple border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.  And just in time for Valentine’s Day, the hotel is offering a special honeymoon package that includes two nights in a Standard Garden View room with upgrade to river-view room or suite, depending on availability; a bottle of champagne and fresh fruit platter on arrival; complimentary breakfast in bed the first morning and dinner for two one night at the lauded Patio Restaurant. US $533 plus VAT.

•  St. Regis, Washington, D.C. (www.stregis.com)

Reopening this month (January 2008) after a 16-month restoration program orchestrated by the noted design team of Sills Huniford, the historic St. Regis, Washington, D.C. is once again the top address in the nation’s capital.   To celebrate, the hotel’s Affair to Remember package includes accommodations in a premier suite, a bottle of Krug Grand Cuvee Champagne, a hand-crafted welcome creation from the pastry chef, breakfast in bed for two each morning and a limited edition St. Regis gift not to mention the pampering attention of one of the butlers for which St. Regis is so well known.  Rates start at $675 per night (depending on the date and suite) for a minimum of two nights.   The memories are simply priceless.

• CC Africa Safaris (www.ccafrica.com)

Out of Africa forever romanticized the African Bush, and CC Africa’s 10-day East African adventure offers guests a chance to experience their very own African love affair.  Days are spent viewing exceptional game in the Serengeti National Park while nights are spent in Ngorongoro Crater Lodge’s private suites featuring awe-inspiring views of the Crater below. In perfect contrast, the last few nights are spent off the coast of Tanzania at Mnemba Island Lodge, renowned as the world’s most romantic private island, where guests enjoy candlelit dinners on the white sand beach, delicious fresh seafood, scuba diving, snorkeling and kayaking.  Rates start at USD $ 7,404 per person in double accommodations and range up to USD $ 10,259 per person in double accommodations.

Also on the Romance Radar:

•  Amanresorts specialize in romance 365 days of the year with exquisite facilities and pampering service at exotic locations around the world from Bali to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.   Visit www.amanresorts.com for more inspiration and give the gift of an unforgettable experience.

• Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa has opened Pezula Castle on Poetize Beach. Situated on one of the most secluded beaches in South Africa, the castle offers breathtaking panoramic views of the beach and Indian Ocean.  A resident chef, housekeeper and butler add to the romance. Visit www.pezula.com

• The Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland (www.brp.ch), Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland (www.ashford.ie) and The Virginia hotel in Cape May, New Jersey (www.virginiahotel.com) all have Valentine’s Day packages filled with ingredients to enhance romance in extraordinary surroundings.

SOURCE: Geoffrey Weill Associates 

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