June 26, 2011 | 11:57 am

Meeting the Locals: Connecting on the Road and at Home (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

One of the most unexpected surprises of budget travel has been the connection with people. One of my favorite parts of our trips happens not only when we meet locals along the way, but also other travelers back home afterward.

Traveling the “five-star” way (having lived on board a cruise ship for seven years) I had certainly met many travelers. For nearly all of my six-month contracts, I quickly made friends with staff from different countries and enjoyed the dorm-like aspects of shipboard life. I occasionally made friends with passengers but that was somewhat challenging and frowned upon by our employer.

When I left the Seven Seas, I thought my travel days were behind me but after meeting George traveling began again, in full swing but a different style of budget - no longer was I Julie MaCoy Assistant Cruise Director but rather XX-anonymous of the unplanned budget scene.

Video: Our Guide: Keke

Recently in Taiwan, we met amazing people who really went out of their way to help us. We also met groups of students on field trips (video) in Tainan and Keke in Bundai, the port city for Penghou Islands, also known as the Hawaii of Taiwan.

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/meeting-the-locals-connecting-on-the/#ixzz1QPF8C5LM

Author’s Note: We are leaving for six weeks in Samoa and Tonga and will not be online for most of the summer! Check our website for more details: http://www.wesaidgotravel.com/.  We will bring you stories and photos of the South Pacific this Fall. Lisa and George

June 19, 2011 | 5:05 pm

Tainan, Taiwan: Can I help you? (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

“Can I help you?” is a great thing to hear while traveling. At home, I rarely hear anyone offer to help. Over the last two years on my two-mile walk home to and from school, I have called 911 several times after a traffic accident. I am trained as a first responder from working on cruise ships, at camps and at schools. It would not occur to me not to call but each time a by-stander or someone in the accident is so thankful that I called and helped at the scene. It shocks me that someone would not call or step up but most people don’t.

I do notice while we are in a foreign country how much I appreciate someone offering his or her assistance. In Taiwan, any time we looked lost even for a moment a kind person offered to help us. From the moment we exited the Metro in Taipei, a woman appeared and walked us to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. She turned out to have family in Orange County only an hour from our home.

While walking in Tainan when we could not find Chikan Towers (which was literally one more block to our left, but I felt very lost and frustrated), a man in the noodle shop said in English, “Can I help you?”; I was so happy; I felt like someone threw me a life ring and I was no longer drowning and alone. I had been navigating our day in Tainan and just could not figure out where the next place was although I knew we were so close.

The nice noodle man helped us order noodle soup with no meat and even offered us a nearly 50 percent discount on our meal since there was no shrimp. Taiwan has been an amazing destination for the great sites and clean streets but also for the friendly people who have wanted to speak English with us and just get to know us, not to sell us anything.

Video: Tasty Tainan

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/tainan-taiwan-can-i-help-you/#ixzz1PlYtCAxw

0 Comments — Leave your comment

June 17, 2011 | 1:40 pm

Travel Happy Hour: June 21 Join us!

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

In the New York Times regular segment, Practical Traveler, Susan Stellin wrote on October 12, 2010 Making the Dream Trip a Reality about Meet Plan Go’s “hosted events in 13 cities, where they answered questions about their (career break) experiences from 1,500 aspiring travelers (in some locations, hundreds more were on a waiting list).”

If you would like to participate in a similar session, this year the events will take place in 17 cities on October 18, 2011. Early bird tickets are available until June 8. Don’t miss out!

Leaving your job, putting down your briefcase, and picking up your backpack is “a dream anyone with a passport fantasizes about once in a while: ditching everything to travel the world for a year, or at least long enough to forget about office life.” If you are ready to learn more by meeting some career break veterans, or perhaps ready to plan a trip, regardless of length, you should get ready to go to our first event in Los Angeles.

Please join us on June 21, 2011 at the WEST Lounge of the Hotel Angeleno. Gather with us to share stories, toast to future travel plans and inspire others to take to the road, especially the paths less visited.

Lisa and George, creators of We Said Go Travel and hosts of the LA Chapter of Meet Plan Go, look forward to meeting you for happy hour drinks and to hear about your journeys past and future. They will speak briefly about Meet Plan Go, upcoming events, how to get involved and their own great travels!
RSVP

Meet Plan Go: Do you long to escape your cubicle and strike out to discover the world on your own terms? If so, it’s time to take action. Looking for inspiration and ‘how-to’ advice regarding career break planning and travel? At Meet, Plan, Go! we are leading the career break movement in North America; encouraging and teaching others how to travel the world and have it be beneficial to your career. We envision a world where the term ‘career break’ is a part of your overall career strategy.

We have a dream to get more and more people talking about AND taking traveling career breaks. We aren’t picky – we don’t care how long they are, or where you go. But go you must. Go out and see the world, open up your mind, shake up your perceptions, and get the best education out there…the world’s cultures.

Lisa and George Rajna spent eleven months wandering Southeast Asia from Indonesia to Mongolia where they fell in love, got engaged, and now as a married couple are writing a book about their journey.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

June 5, 2011 | 11:14 am

Taipei to Kenting: Flying on the High Speed Train (Video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Going to Taiwan felt different to me. I did not really converse with George about it. I did not waiver. I just decided and organized the tickets with frequent flyer miles. Sometimes I do not know what I want or honestly I do not want to share my preferences but this time I just did it and it felt liberating.

I do like being in a partnership and compromise is required, but sometimes it feels great to say no or to make my own decision.

Video: Taipei to Kenting

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/taipei-to-kenting-flying-on-the#ixzz1OQHF9eti

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 26, 2011 | 9:56 pm

The Wacky Water Show: Strangest Show Ever (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Wacky Water Show

Taipei International Flora Exposition
April 2011 Taiwan Flower Show

Water Story

Long before plants, long before animals, long before human beings, there was water.

Always the same water travels on the planet, from the ground to the sky, between earth and clouds, amongst oceans and lands. It runs through us just like through our ancestors. What it tells us patiently, like all the myths we have in mind about Nature, is nothing but our stories.

Video: Water Story

Thus, here in this park, each evening at the same time, a little piece of this water memory will be revealed out of the Grand Basin, a performance coming along with the water, a story drawn by itself.

A poet, a Lady in black and 29 young people will be waiting for you at dark by the mirror of lights, bringing you beyond the centuries with fishermen, peasants, workers and all kinds of people while the world keeps on moving.  You will see water burning, pineapple island, aquatic bicycles, cannibal couch and a desperate baseball player.

Water Story is an incredible dream of life on water, which becomes possible if not by magic, a dream that we recognize as Taiwan.

This was the wierdest wackiest show I ever saw! I am not sure what the story means; I am not sure about the show but I just had to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed the video. Maybe you can explain the baseball player, hamburger to me!! Write to us on our new website: wesaidgotravel.com

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 22, 2011 | 10:17 am

Taipei Flower Show (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Taipei International Flower Expo

We arrived in Taipei April 17, 2011 and everyone we talked to said, “Go to the Flower Expo, it is about to close.” It ran from November 6, 2010 to April 25, 2011. Taipei Flower Expo was an enormous area filled with many pavilions for viewing all kinds of flowers.

On the sides of most buses in Taipei were advertisements for the Flower Expo. Many metro stops had signs, maps and explanations how to find the Expo from one station to the next. There were special buses to transfer passengers from rapid rail to the many entrances.

But all the media did not prepare us for how busy the Flower Expo would be. We arrived at nearly 5pm and were eligible for late day tickets. I had no idea that we would wait in line to stop and smell the flowers. George was shocked that there were so many people and called it, “Disneyland without the rides.” I could see the resemblance; the queues were very orderly and had red-taped stanchions.

I love the video of our time in the Flower Expo. There were so many types, colors and designs of flowers; it is truly impressive all the flowers that are available in Taiwan. The people-watching was spectacular!

video: http://youtu.be/Q1VlPCtoNx0

From the Taipei International Flora Exposition:

The 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition will be the first international certified standard exposition that Taiwan has ever held. Taipei will also be the 7th AIPH certified exposition conducted within Asia. It is estimated that the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition will attract approximately 8,000,000 visitors both domestic and international, not only boosting the growth of Taiwan’s tourism industry and horticultural growth but also stimulating foreign affairs and promoting the image of Taiwan. In the eyes of those who take pleasure in the beauty of Mother Earths’ creations, these flora and horticultural expositions are carnivals of joy and delights.  As we march into an industrialized society, green trees and natural habitats are diminishing in our living space. The foundation of floral exposition shows how people crave for a green space. This exhibition also shows how people in the new era care about the environment and eco-system.

News from Lisa and George:
More Taiwan videos are on the way: next up the Wacky Water Show!
Check out our new website: http://www.wesaidgotravel.com/
We would love to hear your comments and suggestions about our site.

Thanks for your ideas! For this summer: We are off to Tonga and Samoa.

Save the date: June 21, 2011 for our first Meet Plan Go Happy Hour! More details soon.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 20, 2011 | 11:03 am

Don’t miss the boat: Chanukah Cruise

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas

Join the Jewish Journal and the Jewish Cruise Club for Ahoy Vay CHANUKAH Cruise.

Don’t miss the boat!
December 17th-24th, 2011 Chanukah Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Magnificent Voyager of the Seas.  Seniors, singles, couples and families are all welcome!!  The ship will be filled with Chanukah revelers!  Every night on the cruise at sunset join the group to light the Menorah.  The camp will have special activities for the kids every day!  For the adults,  there will be slot tournaments, dance classes, spa appointments or just lounging by the pool!  Whether you are traveling with a family or by yourself, you are not alone when the Jewish Cruise Club sails! Join in as we sail from New Orleans to the Western Caribbean!

Sailing Itinerary

Day       Port ***

                                         
17-Dec New Orleans, Louisiana                              
18-Dec Cruising
19-Dec Cruising
20-Dec Falmouth, Jamaica                                
21-Dec George Town, Grand Cayman
22-Dec Cozumel, Mexico                
23-Dec Cruising
24-Dec New Orleans, Louisiana            
*** All itineraries are subject to change without notice.

There will be special shore excursions geared towards the Jewish experience!  The Jamaican Jewish History walking tour in Falmouth will include the very historic Jewish Cemetery and is an experience not to be missed.  The Caribbean is filled with fun!  From water sports to shopping, Historical tours to beaches these seven days will surely give you a week to remember.

The SHIP! The Voyager of the Seas is the flagship of Royal Caribbean’s Voyager Class ships!  It’s 138,000 tons of elegance! There is entertainment around every corner from Broadway showrooms to ice skating shows, rock climbing walls and basketball courts to a miniature golf course. This ship has Card rooms, Casinos, a Library, not to mention one of the best gyms at sea.  Join the Jewish Cruise Club for Chanukah and make this ship your first present to each other!

There is limited space for this sailing and a varied amount of cabins and occupancy, singles, doubles, triples and quads. 

So please click the link below and Jewish Cruise Club will get you a quote as soon as possible.
CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE A QUOTE

AHOY VAY!!!!!!

Please note that there is Kosher Food available if ordered at time of booking. For more information please contact the Jewish Cruise Club click here!

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 15, 2011 | 12:26 pm

Taiwan Photo Book (slideshow)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Our two weeks in Taiwan were terrific.

Click here to view this photo book larger

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BaN3LRuybsWT1

We hope you enjoy our photo book. More videos to come about our trip in Taiwan.
See more travel stories at We Said Go Travel.

Have you been to Taiwan? Do you want to go? We would love to hear from you.

0 Comments — Leave your comment