Heidi Hi

  • Home
  • Good Food
    • Chef Profiles
    • Good Food Updates
    • Cooking Tips
    • Recipes
  • Fine Wine
    • Fine Wine Updates
  • Culinary Destinations
    • Gold Coast
    • Brisbane
  • Luxury Cruising
    • Luxury Cruise Updates
    • Dining on cruise ships
  • Lifestyle
  • About
  • Contact Me

Trip of a lifetime

blog Boulevard Vancouver (50)            blog Boulevard Exec Chef Alex Chen3                Blog Le Crocodile Vancouver079

As a food and travel writer and Vice Chargée de Presse of La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Côte d’Or, I was offered the incredible opportunity to travel and write about some of the most famous Chefs around the world.

Moevenpick ZH
Alex Chen Boulevard Vancouver
Chef Ken Nakano Shangri-La Vancouver1
Le Crocodile Vancouver142
Beat Stofer Hotel Balm Meggen
Thomas Gysler Bailli regional ZH Chef Jacky Donatz2

So, we found ourselves planning the trip of a lifetime. Before we got ready for this long journey, we discussed, how to prepare for this trip of a lifetime. Like so many over 50s, we recently downsized from a large family home in the City to a much smaller house closer to the beach. Now in a comfortable and very manageable home we can shut the doors and travel.

Actually, not quite; just before we moved, a “walk-in cat” decided to disrupt our plans. With the original cat owner’s encouragement, Sambuca took up permanent residency and therefore moved with us to our new home. Closing the door and travel was not that simple anymore; we now had to have somebody caring for our new pet. A kennel was no option. So we’ve signed up with  www.trustedhousesitters.com.au, an internet website where you can advertise for someone to either look after your house and pets or upload your resume as a pet/house sitter.

We published our add and had dozens of emails in response. After checking the references, we’ve arranged to meet with Cindy and John.

They had just sold their property and were “homeless” for a couple of months until their new house was ready. We met, and decided to help each other out. Our sitters didn’t have to spend a fortune on rented accommodation, and we didn’t have the stress and cost of putting Sambuca in a Pet Motel. We could go away knowing that somebody reliable was looking after our house, the garden, and the cat. A perfect solution.

When we planned our trip, we spent considerable time researching our travel options. If you are the other side of 50 you want to travel stress-free, in comfort and enjoy excellent service. Therefore, Business Class was the only way to go on an extended overseas trip.  Searching the Internet, we came across a 3 Continents airfare promoted by RoundAbout Travel.
They offered a ‘round trip, visiting any three Continents in the World; arriving in one city, and leaving from another or making the trip continuous. The fare was incredibly good value, and this was our starting point. The airfare consultants provided excellent service. All in all, our trip of a lifetime was 47 days, flying Business Class Air New Zealand, Swiss and Qantas.  A “trip around the World – three Continents” for less money than our friends paid flying from Australia to L.A. What a find!

Our bucket list included Canada, the well-publicised and lauded Rockie Mountaineer and a cruise to Alaska, vacation in Switzerland and the UK to see family and friends and Japan to catch up with our many friends there. We had some specific dates when we had to be in Canada and a non-negotiable function to go to in Switzerland. So not an easy task to make it all work.

Blog Eagle
Blog Vancouver (15)
Blog Bear Grouse Mountain2
Blog Harder Kulm
Tower_bridge_London_Twilight_-_November_2006
Blog Japan

Roundabout travel put the journey together, made all the reservations, booked my Gluten Free request; we paid over a secure line; printed out our extensive itinerary, tickets, and luggage labels and we were ready to go.

QantasSwisslogo-trusted
NZ logo

logo

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

In Category: General
06/08/2016 1 Comment

Comments

  1. Janette says

    07/08/2016 at 20:49

    Sounds a Wonderful experience Heidi. Thank you for sharing.
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Vivo's Signature Risotto

Signature Risotto Recipe

steamed treacle pudding

Recipe: Steamed Treacle Pudding

Confit Salmon with Yuzu Miso Broth

Recipe Confit Salmon

Keep in Touch

Facebook Twitter Google Linkedin

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Please check your inbox and confirm your subscription.

Categories

QantasSwiss
logo-trusted
logoNZ logo

© 2021 h.wyeth, sesta, trading as heidihi.com. Registered TM 2011 heidihi.com. All rights reserved. · Powered by Get Business Online

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×