Disney for the Holidays With Krystin Turner from Dreams Unlimited Travel
Fly with Chris and Di
What happens when you take the magic of Disney and the magic of Christmas and combine them? You get Disney for the holidays. Our friend and Disney travel expert Krystin Turner is here today to talk about some of the cool things that are available from Disney during the holiday and Christmas season. She has stayed at all of the resorts and has extensive knowledge about Disneyland, Disney World, and Disney Cruises. We were lucky enough to have Krystin as our guest on season one of the podcast when we talked a
info_outline
Health and Wellness While Traveling
Fly with Chris and Di
We are joined by Jamie and Skylar from Explorcation on this episode of the podcast. They have a fantastic blog and vlog on YouTube. They share a ton of advice for staying healthy and well when you are traveling.
info_outline
Get to Know Chris
Fly with Chris and Di
It is finally time to get to know our other host better. Today we are going to dig deeper and get to know more about Chris and his travel adventures. He waits until the very end of the episode to share his special story about his favorite childhood travel experience and adds some special guests in on the discussion.
info_outline
Africa with Ashley
Fly with Chris and Di
Award-winning travel agent, Ashley Morris from Alpaca Your Bags, will be joining us to talk about AFRICA! Ashley joined us in Season 1 to tell us all the tips and tricks to planning an amazing destination wedding or vow renewal. Ashley is back and fresh off of a trip she recently took to East Africa. She is going to share all of the details of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. She shares how she was lucky enough to get to go on a safari and preparation including visas and vaccinations.
info_outline
Italy Quick Tips
Fly with Chris and Di
Hey, fly listeners, thanks for joining us for this quick tip Thursday. If you haven't checked out episode 41, be sure to do so. In that episode, Tanya Shelburne of the Traveling Tanya blog took us through all of the ins and outs of planning a trip to Italy. If you're thinking of taking a tip to this amazing company you will want all of that info. Today, Tanya gives us some top tips for how to make the most out of your Italian vacation. Some of the things we talk about include when to go to Italy.
info_outline
Italy with Traveling Tanya
Fly with Chris and Di
Tanya Shelburne, author of the Traveling Tanya blog is here with us. Tanya is on a mission to inspire busy people like you to make travel a priority by sharing her vacation adventures and travel tips. Like us, she has two teenagers and loves to travel the world. Today, Tanya is going to take us to Italy. Tanya shares all kinds of insights about going to Italy. She even shares a great tool for trip planning and creating your own itinerary. This episode will have you dreaming about visiting Italy and will giv
info_outline
Affording Travel with Danielle Desir (The Thought Card)
Fly with Chris and Di
Having the right mindset is a popular topic no matter what you’re trying to accomplish. When it comes to travel, the two main mindset issues people often have are lack of time and lack of money. Our guest today has developed strategies to make travel a priority. She talks about her techniques for intentional budgeting and saving for travel. We also talk about how to find the best flights and deals, the difference between a trip and a vacation, and why travel can be so rewarding.
info_outline
Budget Friendly National Parks with Michelle (The Wandering Queen)
Fly with Chris and Di
National parks are a great way to explore natural beauty close to home and in other countries. Today, we chat with Michelle Stelly who fell in love with hiking, backpacking, and camping. She runs the The Wandering Queen blog, where she talks about her adventures and shares tips and tricks for beginner and experienced hikers and campers. Michelle’s enthusiasm and love of nature is contagious as she talks about how she began, where she’s been, and her favorite places to go.
info_outline
What is Your Post-Quarantine Travel Destination?
Fly with Chris and Di
Hey Fly listeners, we are thrilled to have you with us today. We are your hosts Chris and Di, and if you are anything like us, you are ready to get out of the house and go somewhere, anywhere, as long as you can get the heck out of dodge and see something besides your four walls.
info_outline
How to Budget for Travel with Nikki Rue
Fly with Chris and Di
Our friend Nikki Rue from She Saves She Travels is back. Regular listeners may remember her tips on How to Book the Cheapest Flight Possible from episode 23. Nikki runs a travel and finance blog that specializes in helping people work with the income they have to go on the trips they want. Her blog is a wealth of tips and resources to save money, budget, and find the best travel deals. We loved all of her tips for finding cheap flights, and today we take it a step further by talking about how to plan and
info_outlineWe’ve been sharing travel tips and some of our great travel experiences with you. Today, we are doing something a bit different. We are sharing the actual four-day itinerary of our Southern California trip. In this trip, we had a great time and managed to see a lot in a very short amount of time. We spent some time in LA, a day in San Diego, and even made it South of the Border in Tijuana.
People often ask how we do so much in such a short amount of time. It really comes down to planning. We wanted to get the most out of our trip, so we were very mindful of the time we had. If you want to make a similar trip, we share what we did each and every day, If you don’t want to plan, you can just follow our itinerary to get the most out of your trip.
Show Notes
[02:25] We took this trip from Indianapolis. We knew we would gain a little time, because we were going from Eastern Time to Pacific Time, so we left early.
[03:25] If your flight is longer than three hours, upgrade if you can.
[03:58] We had our nephew LJ with us. We were a party of five.
[04:44] We had been to New York, Chicago, Florida, and we were trying to find somewhere in the US to go. We decided to go to California.
[06:04] We arrived at LAX. We rented a Jeep Liberty. It was a little cozy in the back for the kids. You may want to make sure, you are able to get a larger car if you have multiple people.
[08:42] We knew San Diego was only a couple of hours away, so we decided to go there too.
[09:25] We stayed at the Hampton Inn SeaWorld location. We had two double beds and a sleeper sofa.
[10:02] We took the Pacific Coast Highway out of LA to San Diego, and made a stop at Manhattan Beach.
[11:43] We had lunch at In-N-Out Burger. We drove up in to the hills and took some amazing pictures. We left that day open to explore and not have to rush.
[14:02] You have to give yourself flexibility when you have a plan.
[14:48] We got to San Diego in the afternoon and checked in at the desk. The clerk suggested we go to Tijuana. She gave Chris directions to a restaurant in Puerto Nuevo that had butter fried lobster.
[16:56] We head over the border and lost cell phone service. We were in Mexico with no GPS or map. We sat outside overlooking the Pacific. A mariachi played and charged a fee.
[19:52] The fried lobster wasn't the best. The sun was setting as we left. There is a line to get back into the US.
[21:28] There's bumper to bumper traffic, but the line has people selling things and banging on your car windows. It was a great life lesson for the kids.
[24:29] We got back late, went to sleep, and our itinerary really starts now.
[24:39] We ate breakfast at the hotel and went to Sea World. They had roller coasters, and we saw the whales. There are touch tanks and shows.
[26:45] Sea World has an all-day dining deal that is a great deal. It was $29.99 for adults and $18.99 for the children.
[27:49] We spent a day at SeaWorld, then we headed over to the Hyatt Place in Anaheim. We had a main bedroom and then another room with a bunk bed and a pull-out couch.
[29:44] We used the Go City Los Angeles card. The Go Card can be a big money-saver.
[31:19] We asked the kids what they wanted to do. We went over the list of things to do and bought the Go Card at home.
[33:06] It took us two hours to get to Hollywood. We went to the walk of fame, the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Dolby Theatre, and a Hollywood movie star tour on a bus.
[37:14] That night they were filming the ESPYS at the Staple Center. We ate at a restaurant with outdoor seating that was right along the path where the athletes were walking, and we got to see everyone. Then we went back to the hotel.
[41:25] The next day was our Universal Studios Tour. It was a lot of fun. We were also able to fit in the Warner Brothers tour. We even went on the set of Friends.
[44:35] We also went into a sound effects room were they took a movie without sound and then layered in each sound until there was a cacophony of sounds. Each portion of sound is recorded separately.
[45:52] We then spent the afternoon in Venice Beach and rented bikes. We were able to layer this in before heading to the airport. We even saw a man levitating.
[48:35] Our flight wasn't until 10:00 pm, so we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.
[50:40] Quick recap: Pacific Coast, In-N-Out Burger, Tijuana, SeaWorld, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, Hollywood Movie Star Tour, Dolby Theatre Tour, ESPYS outside the Staples Center, Venice Beach, and Roscoe's.
Links and Resources:
StitchFix Get $25 off your first fix
Airbnb Get $40 off your first home booking of $75 or more and $15 off towards an experience of $50 or more
Hollywood Celebrity & Star Homes Tour
For pictures, tips and more, be sure to check out our Fly with Chris and Di Facebook page and signup to download a copy of The Best City for You. Please take a moment and subscribe to our podcast and leave a review. Become a Fly Insider and get the inside scoop, behind the scenes photos, and exclusive travel deals.