Travel Tips

Hana is a sleepy little town located in Maui on the backside of Haleakala. Hana is a fairly quiet town with only one or two hotels. It has a small public beach that when compared to some of the other beaches on Maui seem less than impressive. And what sleepy town would be complete without a horse ranch. Hana is definitely not lacking in charm. While millions of people travel through Hana each year, few people actually stay here. The road to Hana as the Hana highway has been dubbed is more about the journey, than the actual destination. If you were to drive straight from Kahului to Hana the trip would take you about two hours. But, as I said before, this trip is about the scenery.

If you were in a huge rush to get to Hana, you would be disappointed. In order to do this trip properly, you should be in no hurry and allow for an eleven or twelve hour trip.

The first place to stop on the road to Hana is the twin falls. They are impressive if you have never seen a waterfall, but you will see some much more spectacular views along this journey. The Ko’olau Forest Reserve is one stop along the way that you should not skip. You will first see Norfolk pines located on the hillside, then some vibrantly colored Eucalyptus trees (very impressive to the east coast native). Next you will see a vast expanse of bamboo trees. It’s worth the time to visit this tropical forest.

If waterfalls are your thing, you are in luck. There is the famous Waikamoi falls located at the bridge just before the 10 mile marker. This waterfall is impressive to say the least. It stretches some hundreds of feet above the bridge, and it has several different colors of moss growing alongside the falls.

The next place to stop is the Kaumahina State Wayside Park. It has picnic tables and provides a wide ocean view. This is the perfect place to stop for a quick romantic lunch. For the next several miles there is a spectacular ocean view, offering ample opportunity to pull over and take pictures. If it has recently rained, then you are in for a special treat, you will see a plethora of water falls exhibiting a rainbow of colors due to the wild vegetation. You don’t get much closer to perfection than this. At this point you are roughly halfway to Hana.

The Ke’anea Valley marks the halfway point to Hana. This valley is home to the Haleakala Crater, which was formed from an eruption of the Haleakala volcano. Lava erupted from the volcano and flowed into the valley creating this giant crater. It is a sight to see. As you drive on from here you will see a sign that says “halfway to hana”. There is also a camp site here, so you can either make camp or explore around the first half some more, or you can drive onto Hana.

Tags: camp site, east coast, Haleakala Crater, Haleakala volcano, Hana highway, Kaumahina State Wayside Park, Ke'anea Valley, Waikamoi falls

When you are planning your Disneyland vacation, you should note that some days are better than, others at the park. The days that you choose to be there will depend greatly on whether you are more interested in attractions or entertainment or both.

For instance, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are the days when you will have shorter lines for the attractions, because there will be fewer people there. On the other hand, the entertainment on those nights cannot compare to the entertainment that is offered on the weekends. If entertainment is important, plan your visit to Disneyland for the weekend.

If you will be at Disneyland for several days, however, plan to ride the attractions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then enjoy the entertainment, as well as the other things the park has to offer on the other days. If you are visiting during the off-season, you should note that entertainment usually isnt offered on weekdays. Also remember that the park really fills up as the day wears on, so try to ride the attractions in the morning if possible!

Tipping is an odd practice primarily because it is common and expected in some professions and not at all in others. As adults, we become accustomed to tipping in the normal day in day out activity of our business and private lives.

But when it comes to tipping on a business trips, its best to think about the use of tipping as a common courtesy in light of your business trip and how it can be used to benefit you during the trip. To do that, think about the tip as a practice and why we tip. For the most part we do it because it is expected. If we think about how we tip at all, it is in the context that the tip is part of the servers income and we want to help someone who did a good job for us.

But one of the best justifications for tipping comes down to nothing more than building a low level business relationship with the server so you can expect good service the next time you need it. On a business trip, you develop a lot of very short lasting relationships. But you want the best from those who can make your trip and your accommodations enjoyable and uneventful.

So if there is a hotel restaurant that you will be eating in each day, you know you will see that waiter and the staff of that restaurant again. A good tip policy can go a long way to assure that your service will be top notch every time you dine in that restaurant. This same principle applies to leaving a little tip for the cleaning crew who takes care of your room.

I had a situation in a fine hotel where I wanted the staff to leave me more than one package to make coffee in my in room coffee maker each day. Sure, I could have gone out and bought my own coffee. But on a business trip, you depend on being served so you can focus on your mission. So I left a note to the cleaning crew along with a nice tip. Each day I had more than the number of coffee packages left for me. Everybody wins in that situation.

Tipping is not a difficult skill to master. When tipping for a meal, you can write the tip directly onto your bill. Now when you order room service, there may be a question as to whether you should give the delivery person a tip for bringing the food. Often room service charges a fee for the service already. So in theory, you dont need to tip that person. But remember, you may want good service in subsequent nights or in future stays. So slipping a tip to that delivery service person just to make sure they know that you appreciate good service makes sense.

When tipping taxi drivers or the hotel doorman, its appropriate to fold the money in the palm of your hand and hand it to him or her in the form of a handshake. If they are holding the door for you, they will look down to see you are giving a tip when your hand moves out. That moment of contact is important so they look at you and know you recognize their good service and remember you for future reference.

The amount of tips is pretty much standard. 15% is a standard tip for most meals or for the taxi drive. $1 per bag is standard for a doorman or bellhop who is helping you with your bags. Now if you only have one bag, it might be a good idea to bump that up a bit. Never tip with change, always with folded bills.

Preparing for tipping as you travel is part o your preparations. You should assure you have plenty of small denomination bills even before you leave for the airport, as it is common to need to tip shuttle drivers and waiters at the airport or even the stewardess on board the airplane if you buy a drink from her (or him). As your business trip progresses, keep an eye on your cash levels so you have plenty of spare cash for additional tipping. Business travel is a tipping intensive experience and you should be prepared so you dont find yourself embarrassed and unable to reward those who make your trip more enjoyable along the way.

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Tags: Business travel, food, stewardess, USD, waiter