I came across a fascinating account of a trip to North Korea this week online. An American Tourist in North Korea, 2007 gives a great deal of information about how North Korea wishes to be portrayed by those who visit, and the country has easily earned itself a spot on my “Places I Never Want To Visit” list. While the site is a bit lacking in pictures, the information presented is amazing. It’s very rare that American tourists are ever let into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and when they are, the list of rules and regulations to follow is long. I don’t ever wish to visit a place where I could be arrested for folding a newspaper across a photo of Kim Jong-il, but reading about it was simply amazing.

Read the site, and be thankful to be living wherever you call home. Things could be much worse.

What was that I just said about a low key trip to the mountains in January?

Scratch that. A whole new vacation just came up out of thin air – one that involves NO children, and rescheduling our mountain plans for a later date. And, Jim and I will get to break in our new passports! I’m keeping mum until everything is booked and set, which I plan to do today.

Have you heard of a new tour company called Adventures By Disney? The Walt Disney Company started this line in order to offer guests a Disney vacation away from the parks. The company offers a guided vacation to some atypical family vacation locations – like boating to Capri! In 2008, Adventures by Disney will be adding 8 more trips, giving families the chance to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef, hike Machu Picchu, kayak to the Pont du Gard in France, or explore the Great Wall of China.

An Adventures by Disney vacation includes family activities, as well as special events just for the children – like pizza parties and scavenger hunts – so that the adults can enjoy some alone time. Each group has 2 adventure guides who act as your mobile concierge. You’ll do more than just SEE the sights – you’ll be able to learn local arts and crafts or dances or go behind the scenes for special tours.

You may pay a bit more money for one of these tours than a traditional tour vacation, but having been on a Disney cruise, it’s worth every penny. Disney pays attention to details and really does a great job of engaging the entire family.

When you think of Africa, you no doubt think of lush tropical jungles, vast savannas, and hot deserts. Do you think of snow covered peaks? These Kilimanjaro experts would like for Mount Kilimanjaro to be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Africa. If the thought of traveling to Africa on your own to tour the nation sounds a bit daunting, you can book a tour with Tusker Trails and let Eddie Frank show you the wonders of Kilimanjaro first hand.

Eddie was born and raised in Africa, and has scaled the mountain 31 times in 30 years. Wow! He’s made a trip up the mountain for each year of my life. That’s just the kind of guy I’d want by my side if I were to attempt such a feat. Eddie also participates in 5 climbs for charity every year!

Tusker Trails isn’t limited to Mount Kilimanjaro tours either. You can also book tours to see the rest of Tanzania, other parts of East Africa, and Mongolia.

Now that our trip to Canada is behind us, I need to get passports for the kids. We lucked out by driving into Canada last month, because passports aren’t required, but in 2008, they will be. It’s as good a time as any to get the kids passports, because they’ll be good for a long time!

Getting a passport for a kid seems like a big hassle though. I was 17 when I got my first passport (1993) and I remember going to AAA with my mom, taking the picture, and mailing the forms in. Now you need to present yourself in person to the passport authority, with both parents present to prove that you’re not trying to sneak the child out of the country without one of the parents knowing. You can see why we haven’t done it yet!

Looks can be deceiving.

I say that, having typed on my other blog this afternoon that our hotel here in Montreal was stunning. And it is, visually. As far as the amenities and staff – I’m unimpressed.

For starters, when we were looking online, weeks ago, for a hotel in Montreal, we specifically chose THIS hotel because it had several things we not only needed, but wanted. In the needs columns:

• Free breakfast (eating out gets to be expensive each morning)
• Coin laundry in the hotel (we knew bringing enough clothing to last the whole 9 days would be too much, so we packed enough to get us halfway through)

In the wants columns:

• Close to downtown, or in downtown
• A pool for the kids

When we checked in, my husband asked the front desk about the coin laundry, and was told there wasn’t one, but that we could walk 5 blocks to one. He was also told there was a breakfast, but it wasn’t free. Hmm…that didn’t sound right, but we needed to eat and laundry and food for the morning wasn’t the priority right then and there. We set the a/c in our room to frigid and left to find some grub. When we returned, the a/c wasn’t really blowing, and it was downright warm in our room. It was almost 11pm, so I called the front desk and asked about 3 things – the a/c, the laundry, and the breakfast.

The front desk clerk told me he would send someone up within 10 minutes to check the a/c, and that our ‘package’ didn’t include breakfast, and that the coin laundry was on either floor 2, or floor 3. The problem with that is that the website says, “FREE BREAKFAST” without a mention of a package. The other problem? I searched floors 2 and 3 and found no laundry. I went to the front desk and complained in person. I was told that we could get free breakfast after all (squeaky wheel?) and that the laundry was on the 4th floor. (How does the hotel staff NOT know where the coin laundry is?

So I go BACK upstairs to my room, get the laundry, the soap, and go to the 4th floor. Dump in the soap, clothing, and put in the money – nothing. Wait, do a dance, sing a song – still nothing. Go back down to 1st floor, and now I am irritated, as you can only imagine. Their solution? Check into it tomorrow and reimburse me the $2.

Again, I’m not impressed with that.

So I go back to the 4th floor, stuff clothes back into bags, and head to my room, where I rinse soap off my jeans. You can BET that the hotel chain is getting a letter from me once our stay is over. Not only were both of the machines for laundry not working, but one wasn’t marked, so I’m stuck with soapy clothes and a trip to a coin laundry five blocks away.

Oh, and that a/c issue? Our thermostat is set on 10 degrees C. I should have icicles coming off my nose at that temp. Instead, it’s barely cool, and the hotel’s solution was to give us a fan to make it through the night. A freaking fan?! I’m way hot, and I don’t mean just from the broken a/c, either.

I absolutely hate issues like this, and it’s inexcusable when you’re paying close to $150 a night for your room. The fact that the staff had an apathetic “oh well” attitude about everything makes me even more upset.

We’ve booked the rest of our hotels for our trip to Canada this month, and it’s a relief to have that over and done with. Because we’re going with my mother and the kids, and booking 2 rooms everywhere, and we’re going to be gone for over a week…well, it wasn’t as easy as it normally is when I book a hotel room. Instead of me being in charge, we had to get the approval of 3 adults on each hotel, and it had to have laundry facilities so we don’t need to bring 2 weeks worth of clothing, and a pool for the kids.

Luckily, we found something that would fit our needs in each of the cities we’ll be staying in – Toronto, Montreal, and Niagara Falls, and online, all of the hotels looked just perfect. I’m hoping they’re as good in person!

We’ve booked one hotel for our 8 night trip to Canada next month. (Note to self: trip is only 3 weeks away – get moving on booking other hotels!) We’re still debating on using Priceline for our 3 night stays in Toronto and Montreal (if anyone has a recommendation for a great downtown neighborhood to stay in for either city, let me know!) but we knew we didn’t want to gamble with Priceline for Niagara Falls. We wanted a hotel with a great view of the falls, and we wanted a big name brand. We ended up booking rooms at the Hilton Niagara Falls Fallsview and because my mother is coming with, we snagged a substantial AARP thanks to her membership with the group. Score! The hotel is connected to a casino (I love the slots!)and has a gorgeous indoor pool with a great slide to keep the kids busy.