Segments, Surabaya, Seattle – Weekly Recap Sponsored by the Letter S
Ah… it was WONDERFUL to be closer to home this week after the end of my three week vacation.
My travel is winding down for the year but I still have a lot of catching up to do on reviews and reports, a little bit of plotting left for my end of year status qualifications, planning for next year, and of course all the December madness as the holidays rapidly approach!
My first couple of days were spent recovering from several weeks of nonstop travel (between vacation and work) so to get back to real-life quickly, I needed a good recovery plan to overcome jetlag and quickly get caught up. Except I took Saturday off to do this crazy segment run with my friend Tom, which some of you followed along live as it unfolded!
My travel posts have been a mix of updates to my Indonesia trip reporting including how we visited the city of Surabaya via Blue Bird as well as the new port terminal in Surabaya.
And continued regular travel commentary including my hotel review for the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport
On the local front, I covered the UberLUNCH event this past week to support No Kid Hungry. In national news, I shared an interesting story about an UberX driver who is also a NCAA basketball player!
I also registered for next spring’s Frequent Traveler University Advanced to be held here locally at the Hyatt Regency DFW.
Coming up this week, I’m working on more of the destination reports for the Indonesia trip (Semarang, Prambanan, Jogjakarta, Borobudur, Probolinggo, Mt. Bromo, and Komodo are all still to come along with several Bali posts) – but I’m also trying to sort out the photo situation on the blog.
Yes, I’m aware of the issue of inconsistencies between mobile and desktop versions of the blog and how they are displaying photos differently. I’ve got a lot of photos that loaded incorrectly for these destinations so I’m trying to fix that issue before I continue – plus I’m doing some GoPro Studio editing too. My connectivity and device reliability this past week has not quite been what I want – I’m in the process of upgrading my internet at home before the end of the year so that I can hopefully not be toggling between multiple devices to work.
This week I have the last of my business trips (I hope!) for the year as I head up to Buffalo. I’ll limp over the finish line for my American Airlines Executive Platinumm Starwood Preferred Guest, and Hyatt Diamond status requalifications. I’m already set for Marriott, Hilton, and National Car Rental. Expect more domestic hotel reviews as I continue to wrap up my 2014 reports and discussion of 2015 flight/hotel strategies. I know American Airlines is breaking major news for the business travel crowd today – as the analysis comes out, I’ll share my thoughts on what it means for my travel pattern.
I can finally turn my attention to things around the homestead (including finishing my holiday preparations – the tree is halfway decorated and I’ve done NO baking yet!) and gearing up for a nice staycation for Christmas/New Years. I have barely put a dent in my holiday shopping but I’ll be working through that strategy too.
Ten days until Christmas… I can’t believe how quickly this has snuck up!
Finally, I’m keeping my friends and readers in Australia in my thoughts and prayers today. This one strikes close to my heart – I like to stay at the Westin near Martin Place when in Sydney and have spent much time in the neighborhood. As well, my Muslim friends and readers, #illridewithyou – love and prayers to you at this trying time.
May your week be blessed and free of travel disruption…
xoxo
