Janice Horton's Blog, page 18
July 23, 2018
Mishaps and Misadventures while travelling!
I’ve been doing a few interviews in the media recently to promote this website and my new book The Backpacking Housewife during which I’ve been asked about my nomadic travelling lifestyle along with questions about our very best experiences and our favourite places in the world. I’ve also been asked about mishaps and misadventures while travelling or things that haven’t exactly gone to plan and what experiences have perhaps been the most challenging. The truth is that sometimes things haven’t gone just the way we expected.
When you don’t have a home and homely comforts, even small things can escalate into big things and they can sometimes feel hard to handle. As I haven’t posted about Bad Things that have happened to us over the past few years while we have been travelling I thought it was time I did. If only so you will realise that it’s not all perfect days spent in flip-flops and sunshine. In hindsight, we have been fortunate, as none of these things have been a real emergency but merely challenges that we have managed to overcome and come out of unscathed and possibly a little wiser.
It’s important to note that we travel with emergency worldwide medical insurance. Adequate medical insurance is essential while travelling. We do consider it a major annual outlay even though we are lucky not to have any existing medical issues or a need for repeat medications and our policy doesn’t cover delayed or missed flights or baggage. We think of it as money well spent on something we hope we’ll never need. So far we’ve never actually had to make a claim. My advice to you is to never travel without it.
1. Toothache: We’d only been travelling a couple of months when I started to get a toothache despite having recently been to my dentist for a full check-up examination (I even had a dental x-ray!) as part of our preparations for departure from the UK. The toothache first flared up while we were in the Caribbean but then to my relief settled down again. The pain came back with a vengeance while we were travelling in Asia and while we were in South Korea I had to go to a dentist for what turned out to be root canal treatment. A few months later an abscess formed once again and I ended up having to have the tooth pulled. It was the only tooth I’ve ever lost. Its removal was traumatic as it involved my gum being opened to remove fragments of the shattered tooth and then stitched back together again. The cost involved was around the same at our insurance excess so I didn’t make a claim.
In agony at ‘The Happy Dentist’ in South Korea
2. A badly infected foot: While we were in Thailand I slipped and fell, scraping the skin off the top of my foot. I was wearing flip-flops and I promise you I hadn’t been drinking. I simply slipped on a steep pathway after it had rained. The path had dried quickly in heat leaving a slippery screed on which I went down fast. I realised later that I had been lucky, as I had been arm in arm with my husband at the time and if I hadn’t been holding onto him, it’s likely that I would have broken something.
The injury seemed to be a painful but bloody superficial graze at first – but in the tropical humidity and heat in Thailand any break in the skin can easily become infected. I cleaned the wound but within three days it was obvious that I had developed a bad infection. I was in agony and couldn’t walk. I would describe having the wound cleaned by the pharmacist as feeling like being hit by a hammer and slashed with glass at the same time. It was horrendous. Countless dressings and two courses of strong antibiotics and a week or two later and I was on the mend. I was left with a nasty scar that a year later I had covered by a tattoo of a turtle swimming in a coral garden.
I was left with a nasty scar that a year later had covered by a tattoo
3. Suspicious moles: While in Malaysia, I noticed three moles that suddenly appeared on my body. One on the top of my leg and two on my back. We’d been travelling for a couple of years at this point and I had spent a lot of that time in tropical countries and in strong sunshine. In conversation, I happened to mention these suspicious moles to a lady I’d befriended while on a small island where we were helping out at a turtle sanctuary. She lived in Kuala Lumpur, where we were headed next, and she told me I should get them checked out. So an appointment was made a week or so later at the Pantai Hospital in KL.
The Pantai Hospital in Kuala Lumpur
I’d never been to a private hospital before and this one looked pretty fancy – they even had valet parking at the entrance. I soon discovered that Dr Tan (that’s his real name) is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon as well as a skin specialist and, after a short wait in his reception area, I got to meet him. I found he was a friendly, delightful, and impressively qualified professional who had trained in London and Edinburgh. Dr Tan told me that the two moles on my back were nothing at all to be concerned about – just normal moles – and that he could remove them straight away BUT that he was concerned about the other one at the top of my leg which would certainly need a biopsy.
Dr Tan (that’s his real name) is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon
I wish I’d taken a photo of the suspicious mole to show you before it was removed but to describe it – it wasn’t a regular shape like the others as it had raggedy edges and was mottled in colour (light and dark brown) and neither was it raised above the skin like the others – this one was flat and under the skin.
Dr Tan asked me how long I was staying in Kuala Lumpur and I replied ‘just a few days’. But, when he looked me kindly in the eye and suggested that I stuck around for a week until he had the biopsy results, I started to feel a bit worried. You are probably thinking that seeing a top surgeon in a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur would cost a fortune – and I was rather afraid that it might. Imagine what such a bill would be in Europe or the USA or Canada for instance? I do know that in the UK I could have seen a specialist for free under the UK NHS – but I would have had to return to the UK from Malaysia and how long would it have taken for me to even get an appointment? And, if I did turn out to have skin cancer, surely a timely initial appointment would make a huge difference to a healthy outcome?
The biopsy results took just five days to land in my inbox and to my great relief, it was good news. The mole was not malignant skin cancer. It was a Seborrheic Keratosis – a type of harmless skin growth that bears a resemblance to skin cancer. I was very fortunate indeed. And, as the total bill for all the treatment here in Kuala Lumpur was so little, I didn’t even have to put it through my insurance.
4. Our passports needed replacing: Three years into our travels we arrived in Thailand to be told our passports needed replacing. This was news to us because we knew we still had seven years before they expired. But we had run out of empty pages. Immigration in almost every country requires you to have at least one empty page in your passport for entry and exit stamps. Many countries use a full page in your passport for an entry visa. We were in a bit of a panic as we didn’t know how to replace our passports while travelling.
We arrived in Thailand to be told our passports needed replacing
We assumed we would have the expense of having to go back to the UK to do so until we finally found out that we could do this through the British Embassy in Bangkok. We completed the necessary paperwork and had some (sweaty and rather unflattering) new passport photos taken and within a couple of weeks we were reunited with brand-new passports. It was an inconvenience and an unexpected expense but our panic was over and we could continue travelling!
Old passports for new through the British Embassy in Bangkok
5. Bad Weather: This is actually two things as we have been caught up in both a hurricane and typhoon warnings during our travels. You can read about the Caribbean hurricane HERE. Regarding the typhoon, we were travelling in the Philippines and excited to be spending a whole month exploring these tropical islands that had so far been only a dream. Our first destination was Malapascua island – which up until that point we had only seen on a map. It was our furthest journey point in the northern Vasayas as we planned to head back south afterwards heading for Bohol then onto the somewhat remote island of Siquijor – known as ‘fire island’ as from a distance at night it looks to be on fire due to its millions of dancing fireflies. Then we planned to end up in Dauin, in the area of Negros, at a scuba diving resort where we would spend Christmas.
A pink sky sunset on Malapascua island
The sun going down on Siquijor: known as ‘fire island’
But once we arrived at our Christmas destination, the perfect weather we had been enjoying so far during our adventures in the Philippines took a turn for the worst and a typhoon warning was issued. Diving was cancelled as were all boats and ferries. We decided to take the last flight out before the authorities closed the airport and head back to Kuala Lumpur. Using our hotel loyalty card we checked into a hotel right next to the fabulous Petronas Towers and scored an upgraded room – so ended up unexpectedly spending Christmas in KL and also in style!
A wonderful place to spend Christmas – the sparkling city of Kuala Lumpur
So as you can see, we’ve had a few challenges during the time we have been travelling. There have been others too – perhaps they are for another post – but none have ever put us off travelling. We’ve been proactive when dealing with our challenges and so we’ve managed to come out of what might have been potentially expensive, troublesome, or even dangerous situations, unscathed. If you have any worries or questions about travel abroad and you think I might be able to offer you some advice then please do leave a comment below or message me through my Contact Me form and I’ll do my best to help.
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July 16, 2018
The Backpacking Housewife Janice Horton on BBC Radio Scotland The Kaye Adams Show
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During the launch of my novel The Backpacking Housewife I spoke to BBC Scotland Radio presenter Stephen Jardine who was standing in on The Kaye Adams Show. He asked me lots of questions about selling up and leaving Scotland to travel the world with just a backpack and about my book The Backpacking Housewife. Listen in to the interview – which went out LIVE on the morning of 9th July 2018 at 11am UK time and what was 4am my time here in the Eastern Caribbean! The interview lasts around 15 mins.
Did you listen in?
What did you think of the interview?
Any comment or questions?
I’d love to hear what you thought!
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July 14, 2018
GIVEAWAY: 5 paperback copies of The Backpacking Housewif...
GIVEAWAY: 5 paperback copies of The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton
UK and EU Only. Ends 21st July 2018
Tripfiction and Harper Impulse are delighted to offer you 5 copies of The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton, a novel that reads like a memoir set in THAILAND and MALAYSIA. This is perfect travel-inspired novel writing!
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR COMMENT ON THIS PAGE
TO ENTER YOU MUST CLICK ON THE ENTER LINK AT THE BOTTOM AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENT ON THE TRIPFICTION WEBSITE OFFICIAL GIVEAWAY PAGE.
All you have to do is to answer this simple question:
“Tomorrow – if money were no object – where would you fly off to?” Would it be South East Asia like Lori; Or would you choose a city break? Or would it be a remote island?
CLICK ON AND FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW:
Just let us know by midnight UK time 21st July and the first 5 names out of the hat will be sent a copy.
This competition is open to EU and UK entrants! Do enter now!
CLICK HERE TO ENTER
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July 6, 2018
Celebrating Publication Day!
6th July 2018: Today is the exciting and long anticipated publication day for The Backpacking Housewife – a romantic adventure novel loosely based on my own real-life travel adventures. Published by Harper Impulse – the romance imprint of Harper Collins UK Publishers. In this post read what the first reviewers are saying about The Backpacking Housewife. Watch my personal launch day video and book trailer teaser. Follow links to the press interviews I did today and browse The Backpacking Housewife on Amazon. The ebook is also available in the iBook Store for Apple devices and at Kobo. The paperback is released on 12th July 2018. Thank you to all who have supported me today – pre-ordered or downloaded the book, shared my posts, retweeted my tweets and sent me lovely messages through social media – you have made my day so special!
What reviewers are saying:
Click to watch my publication day (YouTube) video!
Click to watch the (YouTube) Book Trailer!
Click To Preview The Backpacking Housewife on Amazon
Read Today’s Press Interviews
Read My Life In Books Interview with Anne Cater #BookConnectors
Follow My Blog Tour
Affiliate Disclosure : I want to be fully transparent that this post may contain affiliate links to what I consider to be trusted retailer whom I endorse and purchase from myself and so have no hesitation in recommending to you. I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link – it doesn’t cost you anything extra – and it helps support the running costs of this site. Thank you for your support.
Thank you so much for your support!
Janice xx
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July 5, 2018
TripFiction – Books set in location offer great reading for your travels
TripFiction was created to make it easy to match a location with a book and thanks to its searchable database you can find a book relevant to any trip. A resource for both actual and armchair travellers.
TripFiction features novels, travelogues, and memoirs set in over 1,500 countries, regions, and cities from around the world – so your destination is almost bound to be covered. When you are planning your travel reading, don’t forget to research your location on TripFiction. You will find advice on the best books to read for wherever you want to go. TripFiction lets you see a location through an author’s eyes.
TripFiction – so much more than a database and book reviews
TripFiction was launched a few years ago to provide an easily searchable database of books with a strong sense of place and to help the reader see a location through an author’s eyes. How much more enjoyable is a holiday if you’re immersed in a book where the characters are walking the same streets as you and you’re sharing the same history and food? Or the vicarious sense of travel you get from reading a book in the comfort of your armchair at home? Most have reviews that rate each book by the strength of location and content and new books and reviews are being added to the database every day.
But did you know that TripFiction offers much much more that will help bring the world of books and travel to colourful life? The vibrant and hugely varied blog is approaching the significant landmark of 1,000 posts and here you’ll find the following types of content to enrich your reading pleasure:
#TalkingLocationWith – articles where authors give the reader an insight into the research they undertook for a book’s destination, the characters they may have met there, the writing process and even some tips on best places to stay, eat, and visit when you find yourself walking in the author’s footsteps:
Click HERE to find our Talking Location with Janice Horton – The Backpacking Housewife
#TFBookClub – an active TripFiction Book Club where every couple of months members can win a copy of a book with a strong sense of place. Members’ comments, author insights and additional blog posts about the destination transport the reader to another place.
‘Great books set in’ and ‘Classic reads’ series – to point you in the direction of highly rated and interesting books set in the location you’re travelling to.
General interest topics – shining a light on the world of publishing and on interesting destinations. There are some wonderful articles about books and travel in the TripFiction blog so bookmark the blog and don’t forget to tell all your friends and contacts how TripFiction should be their first port of call for books with a strong sense of place, helping the reader see a location through an author’s eyes – and so much more.
Join team TripFiction on Social Media
Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction
Advertising Disclosure: I want to be fully transparent that this post is an advertisement and contains links to what I consider to be an excellent and trusted website that I endorse and purchase from myself and so have no hesitation in recommending to you. Clicking the links in this post will take you to the TripFiction website. Advertising helps support the running costs of this site. Thank you for your support.
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June 28, 2018
The Art of Travel Inspired Novel Writing
Click HERE to li...
Click HERE to listen to my podcast interview with Writer On The Road
Janice Horton is The Backpacking Housewife
Melinda Hammond is the Brisbane based travel podcaster for Writers On The Road
From Mel: “Travel fiction has a long tradition. Think Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathon Swift, On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, and more recently, The Time Traveller’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall-Smith. The list is endless.
Janice Horton’s The Backpacking Housewife is in fine company, and although Horton is experiencing something like an overnight success with her new novel, it’s actually her thirteenth title. Like most overnight successes, there’s a lot of hard work and learning her craft that has led her to this point. And a lot of travel.
Being in the right spot at the right time has brought this travel adventurer a bit of luck – or so it seems at first glance – when she ran into a Harper Impulse executive who invited her to write a novel for Harper Impulse line, which Horton immediately set about doing in a five-hundred-year-old French chateau surrounded by vineyards for inspiration.
It’s only on hearing Horton’s whole story that we learn her success has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with honing her craft over twelve books and many years of writing fiction.
You can find out more about Janice, her books and her inspiring lifestyle on her website The Backpacking Housewife Dotcom.”
Click HERE to browse on Amazon
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June 27, 2018
Road Trip from Miami to Key West – by Greyhound Bus!
One of the most exciting road trips we’ve ever done is one of The Great All-American Road Trips: the one hundred and sixty-five-mile road trip from Miami to Key West on Overseas Highway also known as US Highway One and we did it by Greyhound! We’d arrived in Florida USA at the end of May as part of our visa-run from Honduras not realising it was Memorial Day. Miami was hot and crazy as we joined the jostling crowds on Ocean Drive and slowly explored the famous beach and Art-Deco area on the busy holiday weekend. It soon made sense to us to head out of town and down to The Florida Keys in Hemingway’s footsteps all the way to Key West and the southernmost point of the USA.
Key West – the southernmost point in the USA – and just 90 miles to Cuba
The Florida Keys are connected by bridges and causeways. There are forty-two bridges connecting these islands. The longest is the famous Seven-Mile Bridge. The shortest is Harris Gap which is only thirty-seven feet long. Each Key offers unique features. The first one you encounter is Key Largo, which offers some of the best diving, snorkelling and boating experiences in the Keys, while Islamorada offers some of the best sports fishing. Marathon and Big Pine Key are in the heart of The Keys and offer relaxation, fishing and birdwatching. The weather in Florida is tropical and The Keys are often thought of as the American Caribbean. Making them the perfect destination to get away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist hotspots of Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach and the Space Coast.
We’d thought about renting a classic red Mustang convertible for our classic road trip. I’d imagined us driving over the famous bridges in style and with the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. But, when we saw the sheer amount of traffic coming in and out of Miami, we started to consider options that would leave the driving to someone else.
We’d initially thought to rent a classic Mustang convertible for our classic road trip
So instead we took a bus – and what’s more iconic than a Greyhound Bus in the USA?
What’s more iconic than taking a Greyhound Bus in the USA?
Travelling by Greyhound Bus was great fun. We took the bus to Key Largo and stayed a couple of nights before catching another scheduled Greyhound to take us all the way down to Key West. All the people we met on the bus were friendly and interesting. On the second leg, the atmosphere onboard was chatty and almost party-like as we all introduced ourselves and shared our travel stories and drinks and snacks. After several hours, and a rest stop to restock on drinks and snacks, we were all good friends. Notably, there was a young musician from New Orleans on the bus. He generously shared with us his top tips for ‘Nawlins’ and his list of recommended music venues – which I hastily jotted down. Unbeknown to us at that time, that list would go on to become the basis of a fabulous and never to be forgotten adventure in New Orleans. Who knew, when we stepped on that bus, that a fateful meeting with a stranger would shape our future travel plans?
Travel Tip: The Greyhound bus service is available to book online. The buses are comfortable, clean, and equipped with a toilet. They have planned rest stops so you can stretch your legs and get some refreshments along the way. I wouldn’t hesitate to ride the Greyhound again!
A front seat view on the Greyhound Bus traveling across the famous Seven Mile bridge down to The Keys
Where To Stay: There are many places to stay in the Florida Keys – from big-name resort hotels, smaller motels and hotels, to private B&Bs. Search hotel websites on the internet and check online booking agents for the best deals. We used our IHG App to book our stay at the Holiday Inn Key Largo but we called the hotel reservation desk directly to book our stay at the Lighthouse Court in Key West as all the online agents reported no rooms available and clearly that was not the case.
Top Things To Do in The Florida Keys
Scuba Diving and Snorkelling: The Florida Keys chain of islands are home to the USA’s only coral barrier reef. The reef is teeming with marine life and coral formations. The government has established The Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary to preserve and protect the reef. There are dozens of dive centers offering dive experiences and courses. Most sites are a short boat ride away and there are both shallow reefs for snorkelers and deeper reefs for experienced divers. We dived with Horizon Divers, Key Largo.
Horizon Divers at Key Largo
Sightseeing: Boat trips are popular in Key Largo and one of the most interesting is aboard the renovated original steamboat ‘The African Queen’ which starred in the movie with Bogart and Hepburn in 1951.
The African Queen at Key Largo
Shopping: The shopping in Key West centers around Duval Street, where you can find everything from a bargain souvenir to a world class piece of art. The entire island features the clapboard homes and architecture it has become famous for and taking the Conch Tour Train is probably the best way of seeing it all. Also in Key West we enjoyed The Shipwreck Museum and the view of Key West from the top of the Old Wreck Spotting Tower. A must, as far as I was concerned, was a tour of Ernest Hemingway House. Did you know that as well as writing, he loved boxing, fishing, and his six-toed cat – of which there are now fifty living in his house – all with six toes and named after Hemingway’s famous friends?
The Hemingway House Key West
Take a tour to hear about the wreckers and see real treasure!
The view of Key West from the top of the old wrecker’s tower
Loved this on a shop window on Duval Street…
Get a Tattoo: I had a couple of yoga style wrist tattoos at The Southernmost Tattoo while in Key West!
New tattoos at Southernmost Tattoo
Entertainment and Dining: The food and entertainment at the Keys is spectacular. From fine dining to bar food you won’t find better. I personally love a steak and lobster meal but whether you prefer ‘surf’ or ‘turf’ you will be certain to find a place and a plate and price to suit your taste. Don’t forget to check out Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville on Duval Street – it’s the original one and exactly where you will find the Perfect Margarita!
An original Margarita at Jimmy Buffett’s original Margaritaville
The Essence of the Florida Keys: The first section of US Highway One is essentially a narrow two-lane road through the Everglades National Park. I’d advise you to keep your eyes on the road if you are driving and to avoid glancing dangerously left or right into the mangrove swamps looking out for alligators. There is a feeling of awe as you cross the seven-mile bridge on your way from Key Largo to Key West – azure blue waters on either side – and a scene you might recognise from the movie ‘True Lies’. Key West lived up to my high expectations. It is so clean and so pretty, like a Disney town in its perfection. Historic (by American standards) buildings and wooden clapboard houses with wrap-around porches and white picket fences all give the place a surreal look and Hemingway’s house is a prime example. Duval Street is eye-popping in that there is so much to see and this is where I would urge you to look both left and right in case you miss something. Art galleries. Museums. Fabulous restaurants. Bars. Souvenir shops. A Walgreens shop housed in a disused but iconic theatre frontage. The original Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. Marylin Monroe statue and photo opportunity outside The Tropic Theatre. Key West is almost a theme park in all that it offers!
The Backpacking Housewife with Marylin at The Tropic
Have you experienced Key West?
How did you get there?
Or, is it on your Florida wish list?
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June 25, 2018
Road Trip from Las Vegas: The Grand Canyon – Hoover Dam – and Route 66
After a wonderful and crazy few days in Las Vegas in which we explored the casinos and hotels on The Strip (you can read all about it HERE) and got married again at The Graceland Chapel by renewing our vows with Elvis (which you can see HERE) we booked an amazing excursion to The Grand Canyon.
We took a bus tour to the spectacular wider South Rim of The Canyon
This was a 600-mile road trip taking in views of Lake Mead, crossing over the Hoover Dam, and travelling along the historic heart of the famous Mother Road of Route 66 – stopping off at the quirky historic towns of Flagstaff and Seligman and Kingman – before we finally got to walk along The Rim Trail from Mather Point to Bright Angel Lodge taking in the incredible views along the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
The Hoover Dam #TheBackpackingHousewife
The Hoover Dam was built in the 1930’s to tame a section of the Colorado River and it’s a popular stop off between Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon. It’s cool to travel over the U-shaped construction across the river and it is impressive to see. Although, the (unusually) low water levels are a concern when you consider that the damn is relied upon to provide water to over a million people.
The Backpacking Housewife at The Rusty Bolt at Seligman on Route 66
Back on the Bus #Route66
The historic Mother Road
Seeing and experiencing The Grand Canyon is on most people’s travel wish lists. I have to say that I found the views so stunning and surreal and overwhelming that I regularly had to pinch myself to prove I wasn’t dreaming. We had a perfect day for it and there are several easy hikes along the rim. We walked along the Rim Trail and that took us about an hour but then we did keep stopping to take photos and take in the views. When we got back to Angel Lodge we had a drink at the bar before heading back on the bus to Las Vegas.
Another big tick off the bucket list for sure!
Have you experienced the Grand Canyon?
If not, is it on your Wish List?
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June 20, 2018
Las Vegas: City of Lost Wages
Fabulous Las Vegas
The city of Las Vegas sprang out of Nevada’s Mojave Desert in the USA around a hundred years ago and is famed for its vibrant nightlife and fabulous themed hotels along the focal point of its four-mile-long boulevard affectionately known as ‘The Strip’.
Las Vegas is many things to many people – a Mecca for those who want to chance their luck in the twenty-four-hour casinos, a world-class entertainment centre for those who love music and shows, a fantasyland for just about everything that your indulgent adult heart might desire. When a destination offers so much and you can’t possibly see and do it all in a limited amount of time and on a realistic budget, but you want to experience the best that Vegas has to offer, then it’s hard to know where to start and when to finish in Vegas.
Having experienced four wonderful fun-filled days and five fabulous nights in Las Vegas I feel I can offer you some first-timer tips and advice on how to make the most of your Las Vegas experience!
The Backpacking Housewife at The Venetian Hotel Las Vegas
When to go? First up, remember that there is no right or wrong time to visit Las Vegas but it is built in the middle of a desert, so springtime (March, April and May) and autumn (September, October and November) are considered the most pleasant times of the year. But if you are looking for low prices and special deals, you may want to look to June, July and August, when it will be very hot indeed but if you are going to spend your time inside in air-conditioning or cooling off in your hotel pool, then the extreme temperature might be less of an issue. However, if you really can’t stand the heat, January and February are considerably cooler months with temperatures averaging around 14-17 C or 58-63 F.
Where to stay? The Vegas week is split into two when it comes to hotel prices: weekend and mid-week. So when looking for your best deals it pays to be flexible. You’ll often find that airfares work in much the same way. If you want luxury and a five-star experience then you may be looking to stay at hotels like The Bellagio or The Venetian, or if you are looking for mid-range affordability then maybe the MGM Grand or New York New York. If you need a budget deal there are plenty to be found.
My husband and I stayed at Palms Place, an apart-hotel just off The Strip next door to The Palms Hotel and Casino at a special deal price. It offered us the best of both worlds with a stunning view and a luxury suite. Just a few blocks up the street there is a big supermarket called Smiths. We went there on our first day to stock up on snacks, beverages and breakfast goodies so we could enjoy late-night movie snacks and have breakfast on our own terms before heading out for the day.
Themed hotels and casinos line the Strip
Casinos: Casino hotels dominate the Las Vegas Strip and can also be found in old ‘downtown’ Vegas on Fremont Street. If you are a true gambler then you just found mecca but if you only have a few spare dollars in your pocket and you want to have some fun – and free drinks while you play – then a stint on the slot machines is a lot of fun. You never know you just might get lucky!
A stint on the slot machines is a lot of fun
Restaurants and buffets: You won’t go hungry in Las Vegas because the place is a culinary wonder of affordable excesses and you won’t have to go far to find something delicious to eat. There are high-end restaurants, mid-range family-style diners and brand-name burger joints and everything in between. My preference for a pre-show dining experience is for one of the high-end hotel buffets because this is something that Vegas does like nowhere else. The buffet is where you can buy endless pours of wine and champagne and eat and drink every type of cuisine to your heart’s content. If you are not a ‘buffet person’ you might change your mind when you experience the astonishing quality and the eye-popping variety of food and opulent desserts on offer. Some may want to buffet for variety and some for value and quantity, whatever your reason, the Las Vegas buffet is a staple Vegas experience.
Endless Pours at The Wynn
It’s impossible to say which of the top hotels offers the ‘number one’ buffet, as competition between them is fierce and their chefs are constantly sourcing the world’s finest foods to offer their distinguished diners; but I can certainly recommend The Wynn to you, as it takes the buffet experience up a notch in its presentation by offering what feels like a fine dining experience and it was my personal favourite. Incidentally, at The Wynn, we just happened to go in towards the end of the lunchtime period and so also enjoyed the more expensive evening dinner options at the lesser price – a jackpot situation for sure. You may also want to explore the buffet at The Bellagio, The Bacchanal at Caesars Palace and The Wicked Spoon at The Cosmopolitan and the buffet at Aria, to suggest just a few of the high-end buffet options on offer.
Experiences: Las Vegas is billed as a fantasy-land for adults and so the most unique bucket-list experiences are to be found here. Do you want to cruise The Strip in a shiny Ferrari or drive a fast car at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway or even a full-size bulldozer or excavator at the heavy equipment playground at Dig This Vegas? Why not add a visit to a fun and quirky museums like The Pinball Hall of Fame or The Mob Museum or Madame Tussauds at The Venetian and afterward take a romantic glide in an authentic gondola operated by a singing gondolier down The Grand Canal also at the Venetian Hotel?
The Venetian Hotel: take a romantic glide in an authentic gondola
Not adventurous enough for you? Why not zip line from a giant slot machine or even get fired out of it on the ‘zoom line’ at SlotZilla Zip Lines at Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Vegas. Those seeking even more in the way of thrills might ride a roller coaster at the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus or at New York New York. Do your research and choose your fun or fantasy!
Shows: Las Vegas is truly the entertainment capital of the world for live acts and dinner shows and attracts world-class entertainers and epic headliners as well as lounge musicians, top magicians, and spellbinding circus entertainers and dazzling tribute acts. Top Tip: don’t forget to check who is on and where as part of your pre-vacation trip planning.
Vegas is truly the entertainment capital of the world
Weddings: Thousands of couples come to Las Vegas to get married and weddings here can be romantic, traditional, fun or formal. You can marry in a hotel, a traditional chapel, a drive-through chapel or even in the shark tank at Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. However you do it, your ceremony can be both simple and sentimental and, as long as you are both over eighteen years old, a marriage licence is all you need and there is no waiting period. There are so many themed ways to say ‘I do’ in Vegas or even to renew your vows with ‘I do again’ – which is what my husband and I did with a fabulous Elvis themed ceremony at the Graceland Chapel on our thirty-third anniversary. It was wonderful crazy fun and absolutely the highlight of our Las Vegas trip.
We said ‘I do’ again in Vegas with Elvis as our minister!
Excursions: There are so many places to explore from Las Vegas that many visitors add excursions to their Vegas experience. Trips include the Mojave Desert and Red Rock Canyon, The Valley of Fire State Park, Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, Route 66 and the historic towns of Kingman and Seligman, on route to the sight that everyone wants to see, The Grand Canyon. Top Tip: allow a day or two to allow for bucket-list day trips.
Historic Route 66
The Grand Canyon
There really is nowhere in the world like Las Vegas. As an adult playground it has something for everyone. Adult in the USA means aged twenty-one and over. If you want to drink and gamble in the casinos and if you look younger you’ll certainly want to carry an I.D. The Strip is home to twenty or more of the world’s largest hotel and casino resorts and their architecture alone is a sight to behold; from the Luxor pyramid and its laser beam to the over-the-top luxury of The Bellagio and its synchronised to music fountains. The Las Vegas Strip by night is all twinkling lights and glitz and glamour and total extravagance mixed together with decadence and dingy and seedy. I loved it – I wanted more of it – and had to remind myself that you always have to leave in order to go back again.
Have you ever been to Las Vegas or are you planning a trip?
The post Las Vegas: City of Lost Wages appeared first on The Backpacking Housewife.
June 18, 2018
Click HERE to listen to my interview with Melinda Hammond...
Janice Horton is The Backpacking Housewife
Melinda Hammond is the Brisbane based reporter for Travel Writers Radio
Travel Writers Radio features interviews, reviews, and news featuring the Professional Association of Lifestyle and Travel Writers – our international network of food, lifestyle and travel journalists and broadcasters. Now heard live every Wednesday from 5 pm to 7 pm (AEST) on Melbourne’s J-AIR 87.8 FM on the Net at www.j-air.com and on SoundCloud. Contact: info@travelwritersradio.com
“Being in the right place at the right time has brought travel adventurer, Janice Horton, more affectionately known as The Backpacking Housewife, overnight success as a fiction author. Well, that and twelve previous novels Horton published as an Indie author. During her travels, Horton had the good fortune to run into a Harper Impulse executive who invited her to write a novel for the Impulse line, which Horton immediately set about doing in a five-hundred-year-old French chateau surrounded by vineyards for inspiration. The result is The Backpacking Housewife, to be released by Harper Impulse, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers in London, in July. Melinda Hammond our Brisbane-based reporter spoke with Janice Horton to glean a few tips…”
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