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asleep-at-the-wheel

A Novel Way To Stay Awake While Driving

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There are plenty of strategies to help you stay awake while driving. Here’s a highly effective one you may not have thought about.

asleep-at-the-wheel

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | Recently a number of Canadian newspapers reported the results of a new online survey from a national insurance company confirming that an “alarming number” of people (30 percent of male respondents and 14 percent of female ones) admitted to nodding off while driving (CLICK HERE for the story).

Yikes! With road trip season in full swing, vacationers are going to need to reach deep into their bag of tricks to make sure they stay awake when driving long distances. To the roster of obvious ways to maintain alertness—starting out rested; ingesting caffeine (coffee, Red Bull, No-Doz); blasting yourself with cold air, intense conversation or loud music—we would like to offer a not so obvious solution, an inexpensive food item that has worked shockingly well to revive every driver we know who has tried it. Read more

Young boy jumping into lake

Take A Mini Vacay @ Cusheon Lake Resort

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For us, the perfect vacation spot is a little less Napa and a little more Mayberry.

Young boy jumping into lake

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | The province of British Columbia is peppered with posh resorts, and developers keep adding new ones all the time thinking that designer surroundings, celebrity-chef restaurants, spa treatments and 600-thread-count sheets are what make a vacation unique. That is one approach for sure, but it’s not our preference. We like a little less Napa and a little more Mayberry when it comes to summer retreats, which is why we love Cusheon Lake Resort on Salt Spring Island, a perfect example of the latter.

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Flying U

Mini Vacay @ Canada’s Oldest Dude Ranch

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Pony up for a mini vacay at Canada’s oldest and most original dude ranch, The Flying U—where you’re allowed to ride out on your own.

Horse wrangle at Flying U Ranch

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | I never went to a dude ranch as a kid, but my husband did. He and his brother spent a week as buckaroos at The Flying U guest ranch in B.C.’s Cariboo. It was their favourite childhood holiday. “Better ’n Disneyland” is how they described the experience to their friends when they got home, and the way they continued to speak of it years later. Read more

Griffith Observatory - 123rf

L.A.’s Best Free Attraction: The Griffith

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But not like you think—the Griffith Observatory is the best free attraction in the city.

Star Gazing In L.A.

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | It always surprises me when I hear that friends who’ve vacationed in Los Angeles multiple times haven’t ventured up Mount Hollywood to visit the Griffith Observatory, the most interesting FREE attraction in this town after the sun and the beach. Read more

The Coolest Way To Tour Vancouver

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Many of the West Coast’s most spectacular homes are on the water. To see them, you should be too.

West Vancouver Waterfront Homes

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | West Vancouver is hardly Amalfi, but like this picturesque stretch of Mediterranean waterfront in Italy, it does have interesting houses terraced into the rocky coastline, some with cascading, tropical gardens of Babylonian intent. And when the days are sunny and calm like they they will be shortly, we like to rent a (reasonably priced) runabout from Sewell’s Marina in Horseshoe Bay and treat our out-of-town guests to a tour of this gorgeous shoreline in one of Canada’s poshest postal codes. Read more

Why You Want To Visit San Diego Right Now

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Balmy San Diego is the perfect escape hatch, particularly at this time of year when even the toniest hotels are offering deals.

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TRAVEL ADVISORY| Admit it fellow workers: a monitor tan is not a real tan. Office coffee is no substitute for a pink drink with an umbrella in it. A promotion cannot take the place of a vacation—especially one in a place where the sun always shines, and we can play lighthearted tourist for at least a long weekend. Read more

Boat Bluff Lighthouse - Kristien Rogister

Must-See BC: Ann Rose Picks Her Top 3 Spots

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What’s on your provincial Travel Life List? Westworld magazine editor Anne Rose picks three of her top spots.

Boat Bluff Lighthouse - Kristien Rogister

 

OUR CANADIAN LIFE | Can familiarity really breed dismissal? When it comes to travel, there is always the possibility that locals, wherever they live, will think that only destinations far from home are remotely exotic and rare.

British Columbia has plenty of peerless places the rest of the world flocks to see, and if you haven’t taken the time to visit any of them, you don’t know the whole story about where you live. Anne Rose, editor-in-chief at Westworld magazine, has travelled extensively close to home. Here she shares with Frugalbits readers three superior ways to experience what’s exotic about Canada’s westernmost province. Read more

Four Seasons Georges V Hotel, Paris

Get Memorable Hotels At Enviable Rates

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Contrary to popular thinking, the best rate for a room in a high-style hotel isn’t always the one found online.

Four Seasons Georges V Hotel, Paris

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | Many people we know who stay in memorable hotels for enviable rates direct dial the reservation desk at the actual property they want to visit. They do not book online or through off-site call centres where the wiggle room on rates may be minimal. Before dialling direct, they check hotel’s current rates, what Internet-based travel reservation websites (Expedia, Orbitz, et al) are showing and what rates the hotel’s direct competition is charging. Read more

Great Wheel Seattle- SeattlePI

The Best Happy Hour Meals In Seattle

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While top Seattle hotels remain pricey, you can get a sublime meal and drinks in this town for surprisingly little.

Great Wheel Seattle- SeattlePI

 

TRAVEL ADVISORY | Wanting to get out of town two weeks ago, we headed for Seattle. High-style hotels are pricey in this city, but we snagged a lovely room at Seattle’s Pan Pacific for $185 per night (parking was $20 extra), at least $70 less than every other top-name hotel we checked with. Plus we saved a bundle on dinner.

The Pan Pacific is located in trendy South Lake Union, a mere five-minute walk into the heart of downtown where, after a day of exploring and shopping, local friends introduced us to another great Seattle money saver: happy hour meals. Read more

Roma dress - Icebreaker

Icbreaker’s Roma Is The Ultimate LBD

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The perfect little black dress will take you from dawn to dusk, office to dinner—oh yes, and even around the world.

Roma dress - Icebreaker

 

BUY RIGHT | The perfect little black dress is to women what a well-tailored suit is to men: a garment that works in a range of situations. And the most perfect little black dress of all may be the Roma wrap dress from Icebreaker. Read more