Celebrate Living

Amsterdam train station

To get inspiration for my ramblings, I typically look through my photo albums.  This picture was taken in October of 2011.  This is me with one of my dearest friends and travel companions, Lisa. On this particular trip we were celebrating life.  You see, at the time my then husband (now ex) had been undergoing treatment for Leukemia for 2 years.  She was by my side the entire time and I will probably never be able to repay her for her unwavering dedication to our friendship.  To top it off, at the one year mark, she too was diagnosed with cancer and I was able to return the favor to be by her side. My ex was still on chemotherapy and she need help with post surgical care and support with her radiation therapy.  This may sound like a sad story but thankfully both had a happy ending and are very healthy today.  But with everything going on in our lives, on this day we chose to smile and celebrate life.  

Frankfort, Germany

We spent time seeing the country side and had a wonderful host family that made sure we got to see many things that were not on the normal tourist agenda ie a sheep farm and a working windmill built in 1860. We were treated to traditional German food and fresh from the market eggs and bread. I bravely sampled all the traditional Oktoberfest beers. Throughout our stay we traveled by planes, trains and automobiles. We even traveled by boat, rode bikes and walked. We laughed about almost everything....especially me trying to read a menu in German, while talking Spanish to our waiter from Italy. 

We have traveled together on numerous occasions but this trip will always be very special in my heart. We celebrated living. I would love to hear some examples of how you have celebrated living. Leave a comment to share your experiences.  

In my profile, I mention that I am on a mission to share my experiences with the world.  I would also love to share the opportunity of travel to world. I'd be happy to tell you more. Contact me by commenting here or go to the contact page on my website.

Make The Best Out Any Situation

My philosophy on traveling is that the journey is part of the adventure and fun should begin when you leave the home.  I also truly believe that in life nothing is perfect and neither are most travel experiences.  I say laughter will help any situation.  Even a horrible flight can be comical. Look around at all the other people being angry and the sullen faces.  It is funny really how some will handle the stress.  Just keep in mind that this is vacation and it is supposed to be fun!

Once I was traveling to Gulf Port, MS from Kansas, City, MO.  I had a layover in Memphis, TN. The weather was horrible and they were considering canceling the flight.  Keep in mind, it would have been for our safety that the flight would be canceled.  I watched one gentlemen scream at the poor gate attendant as if she had any say in the decision. The rest of us positioned ourselves to watch the comedy/drama unfold.  I know it shouldn't be funny when someone is angry but I just keep thinking about all the wasted energy yelling at someone when honestly they have no more control than you do. The funniest part was the look on the gate attendants face as she politely ignored his rantings.  The more she smiled and went about her business the more he screamed.  Just imagine if Baby Huey was having a temper tantrum like a 2 year old. (If you don't know who Baby Huey is, Google it. Just means you are to young to remember good cartoons.)

No matter the experience, make it memorable!

Many years ago, I went on a weekend trip to Hermann, MO and stayed at a bed and breakfast. It was a lovely weekend. but the food was less than average as a whole. One restaurant was actually horrible. When I say bad, I swear the best part of my meal was the croutons on my salad and they were actually delicious. Even though the food wasn't good, I would still recommend going to Hermann because we had so much fun on the winery and museum tours.  The city is beautiful and the people were very friendly. And surely the food has improved since then.

Hermann, MO

Not completely true. I'd still want to share my experiences!

Comments are welcome and encouraged. Besides leaving a comment here, you can email me directly to get information on discounts and even free travel. This is my email: candace.rn.ct@gmail.com .

Memorial Day

In the honor of Memorial Day, I do hope that each of you took just a moment to reflect on what this holiday is all about.  As a former military dependent that spent 20 plus years living on or near a military base, I have seen first hand the sacrifices that our military members face.  I have family members in all of the services: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.  I have had friends injured in combat and others that gave the ultimate sacrifice of their life.  I bow my head and remember these sacrifices.  Since I personally knew some of these people, I can say that if they were alive today, they would raise their glasses with me and salute their fallen brothers and sisters. Thanks to each of you from the bottom of my heart.

In keeping the spirit of the holiday, let's talk about vacationing to places that celebrate the military. Now I know that cemeteries aren't necessarily the most thought of places to visit but if you have ever been to a National Cemetery, they are beautiful and so rich in history.  If you are ever able to go to Washington DC, Arlington Cemetery should be on the top of the list of places to visit.  I have seen the changing of the guards at the Unknown Solder's grave several times and am always awe struck. Indescribable the sense of respect and honor.

Another absolute favorite place in this category is the USS Arizona in Hawaii. Again, not what most people think of when they plan a vacation to the beach, but this is a must see. The experience will live in your heart forever.

I lived on Guam for a couple of years and there were many historic World War II sites. Once while site seeing with my kids, a Japanese gentleman approached me to ask if we could get a picture of his granddaughter with my daughters on an old Japanese canon.  He had been stationed on Guam when it was occupied by Japan.  For me it is a picture of progress and forgiveness.

WWI Japanese gun, Agat Beach, Guam

If you scuba, Guam is an amazing place to dive.  There are multiple ship wrecks. By far the most impressive is the spot where 2 ships from 2 different wars actually touch.  It is only place in the world with a ship wreck from 2 world wars. Each of these sites are amazing on their own but to be able to touch both ships at the same time is a awesome experience.

There are so many military historical sites.  I wish I could review them all for you. And give you all the details.  For me the fun of going to these sites, is hearing the stories from people that were there when it happened. It gives history a human factor and is much for memorable that a book. For those sites that are from the distant past, read the historic markers. There's often tidbits of information that doesn't make it to the history books.

WWI cemetery Botosani, Romania

Navy Memorial near Tower of London

Civil War Battle Ground Chalk Bluff near St. Francis, AR 

When you are ready to plan a trip that includes historical landmarks, take time to research what you want to see.  Stop and check out sites along the way even if they aren't on your list of must sees. Don't forget to look in your own back yard.  Just a couple of years ago, I went to a park a few miles from the house where I grew up and discovered that it was an old civil war site.

You can contact me by leaving a comment here if you have questions about where to find places to go. And as always, I can help you find ways to travel with discounts to 5 star locations changing your opinion of what is affordable for you and your family.

Where Will You Go?

Part of my quest in life is to teach people not to be afraid of change; that change is a beautiful and necessary part of life,  One of the ways I work to reach this quest is by sharing with others how to 5 star travel with discounts and to do so safely. Even the wealthiest person I know loves a good discount! 

Ft. Morgan, AL

I had the opportunity to speak with a young man today about travel.  I knew that he was looking for something in life that was better than where he is now. That he is looking toward the future.  He shared with me that he had never traveled anywhere outside a few miles radius of home.  For me this is so sad.  It made me truly appreciate the experiences I have had not only traveling for work but vacations as well.  I often forget that so many others have never seen the mountains or the ocean.  Some have never seen the desert or the canyons.  This just fuels my desire to share with the world my experiences. One of the reasons people don't travel is because they don't think they can afford it. More often it is simply because they never have. 

My advice to this young man was to dream and believe that he has it in him to make anything possible.  We talked about financial planning/income potential options (contact me personally for details at candace.rn.ct@gmail.com).  In 30 minutes he was able to see that the world was his to explore.  His attitude toward travel changed from "that's what other people do" to "I will do that soon". 

Thanks for reading and I hope that you are able to dream and begin to plan for that next or even that very first vacation.

Grand Canyon, AZ

Please, Thank you and You're Welcome

Good afternoon my fellow travelers.  Today I want to share a few thoughts about learning customs and courtesies when traveling outside of your own comfort zone.  Be it 2 states over or oceans away, you should not only research the sites you want to see while in the vacations spot of your choosing, but look at some customs of the area. Learn to be a polite traveler.  Learn to say please and thank you.  I know this sounds simple. We all learned this when we were about 3 years old by our mothers.  The truth is I have heard many a weary traveler return home and complain about their entire experience because the "locals are so rude".  These same people make the same complaints no matter where they go.  Maybe it's not the "locals".  Did you ever think of that?

This past fall I got the opportunity to travel to Paris, France for a couple of days.  I was a little nervous because I have always been told that the people in Paris are rude.  As with all my travel experiences, I took the time to learn just 3 simple words in the local language: Please, Thank you, and You're Welcome.  I did not become fluent in French.  Just those 3 simple words.  Let me tell you, no one was rude.  In fact, we had people on the train volunteering to help us read the map and find short cuts to the sites we were heading out to see.  One gentlemen even took the time to inform us of all the "local" sites that aren't on the map.  We saw museums and parks that were beautiful and not full of other tourists.  Because we found short cuts on the train, were able to spend more time at the places we had on our list and see places we didn't know existed.

It was the most amazing few days of vacation, all because I took the time to be nice. I have numerous examples of this but I'll leave some stories for another day.  All comments are welcome but remember to be nice.

The Eiffel Tower 

Introduction.

Good evening all.  Just a little information to introduce myself.  Why should you read my blog? I hope I have some interesting and fun facts to make travel and vacations easier.  Life is stressful enough. Vacations are suppose to be an escape from life's stresses. Vacations should rejuvenate the soul and refresh the spirit.

C2B-CNT, LLC is a marketing and consulting company. As owner and CEO, I have assisted others to learn methods for thinking outside the box in order to stand out and increase profitability. I teach others to not be afraid of change. C2B, Caterpillar to Butterfly, is based on the ideal that change is beautiful and a necessary part of life.

After nearly 30 years of nursing I have retired from bedside patient care to pursue dreams of travel to premier destinations. As a former military dependent I had the opportunity to live in and travel to many worldwide locations. I have also enjoyed travelling to meet my overwhelming need to give back by participating with medical missions.

                                          Field of sunflowers in northern Romania.

I will be sharing tidbits of information that I have learned to not only make travel easier but safer as well.  My goal is to open the mind to visiting places you might not have thought about.  If you don't have a travel bucket list, it is my hope you will start one.  If you do have one, lets add new places. I want to take my experiences and share them with the world making 5 star travel affordable to everyone.