Productivity @ Home

Lisa Likes: The Bellagio

In the continuing -- and perhaps a bit self indulgent -- Friday series here at the blog entitled "Lisa Likes", this week I want to share with you about our tremendous experience last weekend at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

First and foremost, let me dispell the idea that vacationing in Las Vegas means that I'm some type of "high roller". We chose to spend our family Thanksgiving in Vegas for a few reasons:

• The location is easily drivable from our home in Central California and easy for our son who's in college in Boston to visit via a direct flight.
• The weather this time of year is amazing - we had four days of bright sunshine and temps in the low seventies.
• The plentiful hotels and restaurants mean good deals for accomodations and meals.
• We don't gamble so it's easy for us to have an affordable vacation for a relatively reasonable amount of money.

During our recent trip, we visited the Bellagio for our second time. Our first visit came shortly after its opening in the late 1990's. While the Bellagio now has new neighbors to the South and a new "look" at the Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin) across the street, it has withstood the test of time. I recall during our previous stay that it was less open to the public than it now seems to be -- I seem to remember strollers not being welcomed back then, but now you see many families visiting the lovely interior components of the hotel. The environment is still decidedly upscale and luxurious, but never to a fault. And the good news is that with advance planning, you can enjoy that environment affordably without breaking the bank.

Here are a few of my favorite features at the Bellagio:

• The location -- centrally situated in the midst of the Strip, the hotel has plenty of great nearby passtimes (if you feel like exploring!) Within a few minutes walk on either side you'll find plenty of affordable shopping, great restaurants, a movie theater complex, and even churches.
• The grounds -- incredibly beautiful! From the iconic fountains arrayed across its front side to its lovely pool area and gardens, the vibe is beauty. One of my favorite areas of the Bellagio is the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, especially during the quieter morning hours.
• The fitness center -- it's free for hotel quests and packed full of the latest fitness equipment and helpful trainers. I loved using the Nike+ workout system with my iPhone for the first time.
• The staff -- from the personable young man who helped us check in at the front desk to the housekeeping staff who were friendly and worked around our schedule and left our room inpeccable, everyone was warm and welcoming. We visited during an incredibly busy weekend, and yet we were met with a consistently high level of customer service during every interaction we had with staff.

Add in free parking, great music, relatively little "sleeze factor" and a filtering system that keeps the air free of the smell of smoke, and you'll see why I'd return to the Bellagio in a minute for our next Las Vegas vacation.

Visit the Bellagio website

Your turn: What's your favorite place to stay in Las Vegas? Where does your family go for a quick getaway?

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Viva las Vegas - Las Vegas, NV

Preparing to Pull the Plug

Our family is prepping for a long-planned reunion/vacation that will stretch over the course of nearly two weeks. While I'm thrilled to have the time with my beloved parents, siblings and -- of course -- my own husband and son, part of my is dreading the time away from my home office. Why, am I nuts?! Here are a few of my concerns:

• As someone who runs a home-based business, work doesn't run on a Monday through Friday 8 to 5 schedule. While my load is lighter on the weekends, my operation is really 24/7. This means that if I am going to take a vacation, I need to do a ton of work on the front end to get ready to carve out "protected time".
• If I take an extended break from email, the results will be disastrous when I return to my desk. I'd prefer to keep a handle on email by checking in a few times on vacation via my iPhone.
• My main website will remain up and running during my break, which means that comments will need to be moderated, troubleshooting will still occur, and the usual flow of posts will continue -- hopefully seamlessly for our readers.

All this being said, and with my stress level at a higher than normal rate, I can clearly see the need for some down time. One of the things about being your own boss is giving yourself the same breaks that you would give to someone who worked for you. 

I still have a few days to get ready to pull the plug -- if you have any advice for me, leave a comment below!

Carry On Routine?

The more I travel, the more I crave a routine that will help me minimize the time I spend packing, unpacking and wishing for things I've left at home.

Now that I've finally achieved "premium" status on one of my favorite airlines, I no longer have to pay to check baggage. This has prompted me to carry on fewer items and to streamline overall the number of carryons I take along. I'm currently using an oversized purse that can amazingly fit my laptop, powersources, iPhone, iPad, wallet and paper calendar and journals...plus hairbrush, wallet, makeup bag and the occasional Clif bar...

My Dad picked up the bag last week and scolded me for its weight, but the truth is I'm so happy carrying on just this one bag that I hadn't really noticed. I'm aiming to be able to leave my laptop at home in favor of the iPad for shorter trips, but haven't achieved that yet. I'm also in the market for the "perfect carry on bag" - one that is a cross between a purse and a briefcase, that's cute, functional and doesn't cost a fortune. Shopping for it has become a passtime - I'll know it when I see it!

How about you? Do you tend to try to go "all carry on" or do you overpack and check luggage when you're on business travel?

Bereavement Travel

This morning, I'm sitting in the airport waiting to fly to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the funeral of my paternal grandfather. Although travel seems to be a big part of my life these days, this trip was unexpected and very sudden - I hope to tell you more later in the week about my Grandpa, the father of seven, and an amazing man.

But today, I want to tell you a few things I've learned yesterday about bereavement travel. Because my grandfather's death came rather suddenly, many of us are traveling from around the country to celebrate his life together. As we know, plane fares bought at the last minute can be cost prohibitive, but the funeral home handling my grandfather's arrangements has a relationship with a special travel company that deals with bereavement travel. They were able to secure a relatively reasonably priced airfare on very short notice. I also received reduced rates from a hotel in the area when I mentioned that I was coming to attend a funeral. The "key" to the process and special assistance was a code offered by the funeral home handling the arrangements.

In doing a bit of research online, I've found inconsistent information about the advantage of flying on a bereavement fare. In my case, with several comparisons, the rate arranged by the travel planning company was by far the best, but this article recommends some other alternatives.

In any case, when you find yourself traveling in this situation, but kind, polite, but up front about the reason for your travel. I've found the customer service in each planning situation to be compassionate and helpful in locating more affordable rates. It may also help to appoint on "point person" to secure a hotel, rental car information and a centralized travel agency.  

Going Mobile

I am a lucky early adopter of the iPad. For the past several months, I've used her (she's a "she") mostly for entertainment, bringing her along on my many trips as someone who kept me entertained and amused on long flights and in lonely hotel rooms.

Sure, she had Keynote and Pages apps. Friends told me I could use her to blog and to amp up my productivity, but I continued to set her aside in favor of her cousin, my big MacBook Pro (he's a "he"). He did most of the heavy lifting, containing my monster-sized talks which held big video files. For silly reasons, I favored his larger keyboard and trackpad for blogging, so I never put HER to work even though she likely had all the skills. Mostly, I was just too busy to really put her through her paces and work out the bugs.

On my last trip, as I was slogging through the airport with Him, Her, plus my iPhone, I decided enough is enough. So today, I've been working on giving iPad the wings she needs to become my "go to" girl when I'm on the road. I've spent a few hours testing out (and driving myself crazy with) iPad blogging apps. Since this blog is hosted on Typepad, I tried their app but since it's really just one of those blown up versions of their iPhone app (and I hate those), I've decided to test out BlogPress for a few days. BlogPress worked for me when the WordPress app wouldn't, and although it's fairly stripped down, it seems to work well with photos and will be a quick fix while I'm on the road.

Still on my "to do" list are getting Keynote working well, mastering pages, and using iCal or some other Calendar app to its full potential.

How about you? Is you iPad a toy, or are you using it to really get things done?

The Price of Productivity

On Thursdays, I share my thoughts on Finances.

Yesterday's USA Today article entitled AirTran's in-flight Wi-Fi service takes off with test flight caught my eye.  Who among us hasn't bemoaned the hours stuck on an airplane without a wireless connection as a complete "waste" of three, four, or even a dozen hours? 

I don't know why I would have expected airlines to be giving wireless connnectivity away, but for some reason the $12.95 price ($9.95 for flights less than 3 hours in duration) shocked me.  Is it worth $13 to be able to get online during a flight, check email, and perhaps get caught up on a few blog posts? 

I suspect it depends upon whose paying the bill.  For those corporate employees with expense accounts, it seems like a no brainer - get online, remain connected, and don't lose half of your workday.  But for those of us who work @ home, we need to ask ourselves the cost benefit ratio of plunking down that money and how productive we plan to be with that time. 

I have used recent flights to review books submitted to me, to edit my own manuscript, or even to watch a movie onboard and write a review of it for one of my websites.  The time offline doesn't have to be a time dump if you plan ahead and bring work with you that can be done without an internet connection.  I also wonder if Air Tran's pricetag includes wifi while at the gate, where one could frequently spend multiple hours waiting for take off.  In certain instances, if that were included in the price, I might -- on occasion -- invest in the price of on-board wifi.

Will you pay the price airlines are asking for a few added hours of productivity?  I'm not sold...yet.

Lessons in Urban Camping

This year, for our last summer trip prior to school starting, we asked our teenage sons where they would like to go.  They decided on San Francisco, which is an easy three hours from home.  But when Mom the travel agent started investigating hotel rooms she nearly died of sticker shock.  We decided to turn our adventure into an urban camping trip, settling on the San Francisco RV Resort as our home away from home.  A few years ago, we purchased a 1996 23 foot trailer and are lucky to have a small parking pad for it on the side of our home, so taking it out is quite easy and convenient.  We only camp a few times a year, but keep the trailer stocked with all of the essentials, so packing is as easy as throwing a few clothes and some food inside and taking off.

To be precise, the San Francisco RV Resort is not in San Francisco.  It is actually perched on the cliffs of Pacifica, about fifteen minutes south of the city.  In truth, it actually provides the best of both worlds.  When we are at the campsite sitting around the fire with s'mores and the sound of the waves crashing behind us, it feels like camping.  But within a few minutes we can be in the city visiting museums or seeing the sites.  Since our boys love live music, we took in a Jazz show Friday night and loved the quick drive back to the trailer from the club.

Urban camping does leave some things to be desired.  Although lovely due to its proximity to the ocean, the San Francisco RV Resort is essentially a glorified parking lot packed full of large rigs.  We were fortunate enough to get a site backs up onto an unobstructed ocean view.  The front, pull through slots offer very little privacy outside your unit.  The service at the "resort" is friendly and helpful.  For those who want to stay put and aren't headed for the city, this campground offers a heated pool and spa and a walkway down to the beach.

We've spent our mornings around the fire and then headed to the city for days packed full of exploration.  Since we're spending only $69 on our accomodations, the hefty parking prices didn't sting quite so badly.  BART is also an option, with a station only five minutes from the RV Resort.

A few thoughts for those who might want to try an urban camping experience near San Francisco:

• Book your reservations early and request a spot on the perimeter of the campground, preferable along the back with the coast view
• Use the restrooms near the front office, which seem to have a better supply of hot water and are kept cleaner.  My personal theory is that these restrooms are surrounded by the bigger RVs who don't use the public facilities as much as we little guys do!
• Pack less than you think you need - I always overpack clothes and food.  There is a grocery store less than a mile from the RV resort.  Buy what you need when you arrive.  When camping, space is at a premium.
• Bring lots of those recyclable plastic grocery bags.  They are perfect for small trash bags, containing wet clothes, collecting shells, and numerous other things when camping.
• Try to "unplug".  This resort offers cheap ($4 per day) wireless, so it's tempting to bring work along.  I compromised by working a bit each morning before my teens awoke and then signing off for the bulk of the day.  If you do need to get some work done on the road, this resort offers fast and cheap connectivity.  The office "business center" offers rentable internet time, but not a printer.
• Be fire smart.  This resort does not offer campfire rings.  We love our campfires, and it wouldn't feel like camping without s'mores, so we purchased a small "Smokey Joe" weber grill for $29 at Home Depot and have used it with duraflames for a handy, clean campfire.  The grill is essentially a metal bowl on small legs, perfect for campfires.

Urban camping isn't for everyone - you won't feel like you've "gotten away from it all".  But it's the perfect solution for some fun, affordable family time when visiting a big city.  Have you had an urban camping experience recently?  I'd love to hear your stories and tips!

Never Tire of the Road

One of my favorite songs is "Never Tire of the Road" by the Irish singer Andy Irvine.  Perhaps this tribute to Woody Guthrie appeals to the gypsy in me, that piece of my soul that is always excited about discovering new corners of the world.  The nice thing about working from home is that we can talk our show on the road - with the right tools and a trusty internet connection, the world is our office.  A key to taking word on the road is balance - understand the major goal of your trip.  If you're on a family vacation and your primary goal is quality family time, take a vacation from work and don't let your kids be disappointed by the site of you on a laptop for the whole trip.  If your travel, however, accommodates some work time, consider the following pointers:

• When packing, remember all necessary peripherals and power cords, chargers, etc.  Make this part of your packing list.
• Determine the most reliable and least expensive Internet access close to your destination prior to leaving home.
• Set aside work hours each day and stick to a schedule.  Consider rising early and heading to a quiet hotel lobby or business center to avoid taking up "fun time" with work.
• Let those you work with know of your travel plans and your availability.  Leave them a few numbers where you can be reached in the event of an emergency.
• Use travel time wisely - five hours stuck on a plan can be a huge boost to your productivity if you plan accordingly.  Use the time to plan goals, assemble next action lists, write articles and engage in other activities that require concentration.
• Count your blessings for having a career that enables you to take your show on the road!

And now, a few moments with the incomparable Andy Irvine.  Enjoy!

Never tire of the Road!
Never tire of the rolling wheels, Never tire of the ways of the world, way out yonder is calling me.
And the dark road leads me onward, and the highway is my code,
And that lonesome voice that I heard in my head said,
"Never tire of the road".

Santa Fe Photos

If you'd like a little taste of our week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, feel free to check out my photos - you can see that I spent a lot of time visiting churches! Santa Fe is a wonderful city, filled with art, culture and tradition. I would definitely recommend a visit to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and Mission San Miguel, to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, and to the Museum of International Folk Art. Our home for the week was the College of Santa Fe. The musician photos feature some of Eric's fellow students at Zoukfest.

.Mac Web Gallery - Santa Fe 06/08

Mom heads back to the Dorms!

This week, Eric and I are in Santa Fe, New Mexico attending ZoukFest 2008 | World Music Camp.

Actually, Eric is attending and I'm soaking up the scenery, writing and touring beautiful Santa Fe. After flying into Albuquerque (yes, the old Patridge Family Song is stuck in my head!) this afternoon, we drove over to Santa Fe and checked into our lovely dorm room at the College of Santa Fe. This will be my home for the next six days. Eric will be attending classes from 8 to 6 and then playing "sessions" into the wee hours of the morning. I'm hooked up with a great Internet connection, the dorm to myself for most of the day, and a beautiful city to explore. I'm hoping to spend the mornings working productively and the afternoons checking out local historical sites and galleries. It feels like a retreat of sorts, which is precisely what I'm needing. Eric, in the fashion of any normal 16 year old, would prefer that I spend as little time with him as possible. We had a lovely drive over today - can you believe that the speed limit in New Mexico is 80 in some places? Conversations with my son make me so proud of the man he is becoming!

Are you able to take some time this week for a mini-retreat? It may be an early morning Mass, a walk in the park, or even a bubble bath? Try to plan for an hour or two to refresh and rejuvenate yourself spiritually, physically and mentally.