Imagine planning a vacation for your family or even extended family. You have the destination picked out, the airfare paid for and the rental car reserved. What’s left? Ah yes the hotel.  But with such a big group you have to decide whether or not to get a few different rooms to accommodate everyone or a large expensive suite where someone will still inevitably end up on the floor for their sleeping arrangement. Wouldn’t it be great to have a home away from home? And that’s when it hits you to rent a condo or a vacation house. You’ll save money because you can cook some meals at the house, you won’t need ten different hotel rooms, and you’ll be able to choose a place where everyone gets a bed. But where is a good reliable place to find a vacation rental?

My recommendation would be to check out VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) at www.vrbo.com.  A large database of private owners listing their condos and vacation homes with the assurance of a rental guarantee. The rental guarantee comes in two different levels. The first level is a free guaurantee of 50% of your vacation rental amount, or you can opt for the gold guarantee that receives 100% percentage for about 60 dollars. A little peace of mind that is above and beyond what you can get from Craigslist.

There are a lot of different options out there for vacation rental properties, I just like VRBO because it’s so easy to navigate and it has a large amount of properties listed. One piece of advice I will offer to those looking into renting is that there is usually a cleaning deposit you have to put down regardless of the length of your stay, so that someone can come in and clean up after you leave. It’s an added expense you may not have been aware of but most of the time it’s still a better deal either way.

Traveling with my lap top has become a necessity for me as it has for millions of other fellow travelers. Unfortunately this always poses a problem for me as I refuse to ever check a bag so I always have a roller bag and then trying to figure out which to ditch my purse or my laptop bag- they almost always have to be consolidated. Now adding a diaper bag in the mix just makes the thought of carry ons daunting.

I was approached by a company called Tote Couture to review a new laptop bag called the Lani. I don’t always review every product that is emailed to me but I was intrigued because: a) the bag was actually cute and b) the bag was large enough and stylish enough to actually double as a purse and a lap top bag. I love pockets and being organized so it’s always important for me that this be a feature in any bag I purchase. I also loved the fact that the bag had a concealed pocket to slip over your roller board, definitely an added bonus because the more hands free things can be for me the better.

I think it’s a definite step-up from the old bag… what do you think?

*This was not a paid or compensated review and I have no affiliations with Tote Couture or their marketing company. If you would like more information on the Tote Couture product line or purchase visit coolcomputerbags.com

Just wanted to let my readers know that I am now eligible to write tips on traveling with children as of a few days ago! It will be a few weeks before we take the baby on a plane but we will be looking for advice to make traveling with an infant more enjoyable and will definitely be sharing our tips and trips!!

I know we are all celebrating the presence of Fall finally making it’s way here. All we can think about is pumpkins, college football, Halloween costumes and leaves. But there is also another thing you ought to be thinking of: your winter vacation. It’s no secret that I live in Salt Lake City and I haven’t really done a post on my own town. Most people know Utah as the mecca of snow sports. This is what I adore about this state and really what has kept me around for these past two years. The powder here is unlike powder in any other place.

You may or may not have known that Utah offers 13 ski resorts many within just an hour or much less of each other. Salt Lake International Airport boasts a good number of flights arriving before noon and with a handful of premier ski resorts less than an hour of the airport you can land in the morning and be skiing in the afternoon. A lot of people get the impression that if they come to Utah for skiing they need to head up to Park City and pay for a super expensive condo right on the resort, and if that’s within your budget and how you prefer to vacation you will have a wonderful experience. But unfortunately, not all of us can spend that kind of cash and I’m a firm believer everyone deserves the opportunity to experience Utah powder.

Here are some tips that will help you save some serious cash on planning your trip. You don’t need to rent a condo in Park City. You can actually stay in a hotel either down in Cottonwood, downtown SLC or you can even try renting a house in either of these areas if you have a big group( try vrbo). This comes with quite a few benefits. Not only will you save on the lodging costs but restaurants, groceries and movies will be a lot cheaper and you won’t be limiting yourself to just the three ski resorts in Park City. You can head up either Big Cottonwood Canyon and visit Brighton or Solitude or up Little Cottonwood Canyon and visit Alta (skiiers only) and Snowbird.  You don’t even have to rent a car if you don’t want to because UTA (Utah Transit Authority) public transportation system has buses to these major resorts, and some hotels even offer shuttles.

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