Wanderlust woman finds there’s no beach like home at Long Beach Island, NJ

I recently discovered Guy & Girl Travels on Twitter and it turns out they’ve been right in my own backyard, so to speak, not just in bloggo or Twitter land.  Their post of Long Beach Island on YouTube made me realize that this wanderlust woman has yet to write about her favorite beach.  True, the Amalfi Coast is “che bella spiaggia” but there is nothing like LBI before, during or even after a thunderstorm.  There’s an energy that just changes with the tide.

LBI is 18 miles of nothing but sand and surf with a few honky tonk attractions to keep the kiddies happy.

Old Barney's winter wonderland by Diane G.

There’s the Old Barney lighthouse at the north end and the bird sanctuary to the south.  In between, there is plenty of shopping and great restaurants, oh yeah, and people, lots and lots of people.  You see, I NEVER hit LBI any longer during the season, Memorial Day to Labor Day.  My GPS won’t program me there.  I have absolutely no desire to travel the 18 miles from the lighthouse to the bird sanctuary in five hours or more.

My love affair with LBI began in college when my boyfriend’s parents bought a house on the bay side (yes, there is an “us and them” mentality between the bay side people and the ocean side.  LOL)  Well, we broke up several years later and his parents let me keep using the house on occasion.  To this day I don’t think he ever knew and he lives in that house now.  ROFL

Now, I only stay on the ocean side.  Once you’ve been to the other side you never go back.  The crash of the waves lulls you to sleep and wakes you up each morning.  And those thnderstorms, ooh boy, you’ve never been on a roller coaster that shakes as much as a stilt house during a thunderstorm.  It’s wicked wild.

There is a causeway that takes you over the bay once you exit the Garden State Parkway at Exit 63. Just ignore the strip of shopping malls and head straight for the ocean where bliss awaits.  The sand is white and clean and you can walk for miles in off-season peacefulness.  Fisherman cast a line and sit for hours, hypnotized by the ebb and flow of the tide.  The best thing I have ever done is to leave the laptop at home and explore the island through my camera.  Some of the most colorful sunsets can be found in Beach Haven by the bird sanctuary.  It’s a great escape and solo travelers can get there for a quick weekend from practically anywhere on the east coast of the U.S.

Guy & Girl asked me about growing up in the area………I told them, I’ve been going to LBI so long, before Jon Bon was even a Jovi.  That might only be funny to Jersey girls but hey, everyone deserves an inside joke.  What exit are you?

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TOURIST TIPS:

Places to Stay – Daddy-Os is the relatively new hip, boutique hotel. The Engleside Inn , The Sea Spray Motel & The Sea Shell Resort are also popular but your best bet is to surf the net and find a weekend rental.

Places to Eat – The Plantation is by far my favorite restaurant and there is a very friendly bar crowd that gathers there most nights.

Island Legend – A visit to LBI would not be complete without a stop at Joe Pop’s.  That’s where Jon Bon Jovi played when he was in Atlantic City Expressway.  (Told you I’ve been going there a long time!)

Webcam – I have one listed here on Travel Dreams but if you find any others please let me know.

More Info – Check out Guy & Girl’s recent LBI blog post over at CheapOAir and The LBI Foundation on the web or on Twitter (they even offer Italian classes – I told you LBI was next to nirvana!).

Saturday Splurge to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I had never wanted to go to Mexico before and this year there are more than a few reasons to stay away: swine flu, political unrest from the drug wars, warnings by the U.S. State Department.  But as they say, every cloud is lined with tequila.

Four Seasons Punta Mita is a steal at nearly 60% off

This week the Perrin Post tipped us off to a splurge we can’t avoid.  The Four Seasons in Puerto Vallarta is offering their basic casita at nearly a 60% savings.  Check out her post.

Frugal Friday – One Tank Options for a Summer Quickie

It’s Frugal Friday – time for Wanderlust Women to hit the road. This year, however, it’s getting tougher to do. Gas prices are lower than last summer but the economy has slipped into more of a recession. So, what’s a girl to do?

If you’re in New York, head north. Lenox, Massachusetts offers the perfect budget anecdote to civilization. Try grabbing a Zip Car if you have no wheels or look at Enterprise or Priceline for weekend specials for as little as $20/day.  Hop in the car and within 3 hours you will find yourself in the bucolic Berkshires. (Does anyone use bucolic in everyday speech?) You can take the boring route up the Mass Pike but if you want the scenic version and you don’t mind adding an hour or two to the ride then head up the Taconic Parkway and exit at Red Hook. Turn right off the exit and go as far as you can where you will eventually run into Route 7. It’s a pretty drive lined with rolling meadows, farms and not much else until you get into Stockbridge. You can stop here for lunch. It is less crowded than downtown Lenox and has more shops to offer.

Lenox has been an artists’ haven for decades and offers history mixed with culture. There’s the Red Lion Inn (which I would bypass for lunch. It’s not worth it and the food is only very average) Just walk through the lobby and you can say you’ve been there. The town of Lenox also has a lot of crafts shops but they are pricey.

There is always the Berkshire Theater Festival, which has Broadway  stars throughout the summer.  Then there is the Edith Wharton Estate and Norman Rockwell Museum for art and design lovers and much more.

Charming inns await in the Berkshires

Lodge overnight outside of downtown Lenox and save money for other things. You can probably still get a midweek night at the Crowne Plaza in Pittsfield for under $150 or a small room at a nearby inn but rooms are booking fast.

With any luck, you can stay overnight and dine out for under $250 and in and around New York, that is a budget weekend!

Hit the road and save money this summer! Photo by Amanda Marsalis for BudgetTravel.com

Finally, BudgetTravel.com, has a list of five one-tank destinations from various U.S. cities.  Happy Trails.

Solo travel is a journey of spirit and not a vacation destination

Just as life is a journey and not a destination, so too travel to a destination is about people and not places.  A fellow blogger, Tammie at Soloroadtrip.com, reminded me of that recently.  So often, friends will ask me where I have traveled to because many of them live vicariously through me.  It’s not to brag; it’s not to minimize anyone’s existence; it’s a simple fact.  Too many women are fearful of going solo at anything and many others are tied to home by the obligations of family life.

As a woman with wanderlust I cannot describe to them the adventure and the joy of a solo journey, of the experiences, exaltation and satisfaction I encounter on a daily basis when I am away from home.  It is the four Es – empowering, exciting, enlightening and energizing.   If those qualities are foreign to anyone it is because they cannot be conveyed by words but must be accomplished by a spirit whose soul is touched by the people she encounters along life’s journey.

We are all strangers until we cross paths with another human being, whether it is for five minutes or a lifetime.  These are some of the people I have encountered in my travels, some people I will never see again but who left their mark on my journey through this life.  Years later I still remember them and had I not ventured away from the safety zone of home I would never have met them.  I have changed their names because as much as writers share they also hold secrets or they would not be able to draw upon those emotions  and expose themselves.

1. Scotland – I had traveled to Edinboro really in search of Nessie and nothing more.  Eric happened to be my bus driver and tour guide on the journey to Loch Ness.  I never saw the monster but made a friend that day, a charming man who took me to dinner at a locals’ hangout and squired me around Edinboro in the city where summer nights can last forever.  I never saw him again; never communicated but he left his mark on my memory.
2. England – Jill and I met while studying abroad.  I was from NY and she was from Connecticut.  We were each experiencing life outside our safety zone for the first time.  Our experiences up until that point were dissimilar but our travels drew us together.  She helped me retrieve the mysterious flying blouse which took flight out of our dorm window in London and made its way down a street in Russell Square; she laughed with me as we watched topless women dance with dolphins at the Folies Bergere in Paris; and she was the only student to come looking for me when I was trapped and locked in the restroom of a restaurant in Rome.  We bought each other gifts our last day on the road…….I haven’t seen her since but I still have her gift.
3. Washington, D.C. – Yes, right close to home some of the greatest adventures can occur.  It was a grad school trip to the West Wing (I went to a grad school with clout).  I didn’t travel to the nation’s capital with the group.  Naturally, I had to travel solo.  In doing so, I found myself in a taxi accident with a car that ran a light and T-boned the side of the cab I had been sitting in.  My foreign speaking driver could do nothing but worry about being deported (great – he had no license in a metered cab) and all I wanted to do was get to the hotel.  I hailed another passing taxi and made my way to the hotel where Lynn was standing outside.  We went to the same school but we weren’t friends; we never said more than hello as we passed each other on campus.  Yet, that night, Lynn rushed me to the hospital and stayed with me for what seemed like hours in the E.R. and made sure I filed a police report.  I never saw her after graduation but she made my trip to the West Wing one that I will never forget.
4. Amalfi, Italy – I had been researching my next “journey” on Google and happened upon Ciao Amalfi.  To this day I don’t know what I typed into the box that led me to Laura but it was the perfect search because it led me to someone I know I will be friends with for life.
   

   Solo travel to find yourself and new friends

   Laura and I traveled the world to arrive at the same destination, literally and figuratively.   We met for the first time when she showed me around Ravello not too long ago but we chatted and ate and chatted some more like we had been friends for years.  Unlike the other people I have met along the way, I know Laura and I will stay connected……and it happened all because of Google.  Tutto destino.

What I hope you have realized by now is that a place, any place, is its people, good and bad, friendly or not.  What happens to you anywhere is what you allow yourself to experience.  Notes and postcards in  a travel diary can do nothing more than review restaurants and hotels unless you allow yourself to savor the soul of a country.

My Mom's solo strength is my greatest inspiration

Maybe it is the journalist in me which fosters my spirit to fly or perhaps it is the two women who gave me wings to soar – my mother and grandmother. They raised me to be an independent woman of strength, someone not scared to dream and fly solo.  I cannot imagine my life in any other way for to do so would make me feel buried alive.  I urge you to fly solo and feel yourself breathe.

Saturday Splurge for luxury travel to Bali

Saturday Splurge is a new feature here for Wanderlust Women.  Each week I’ll post a luxury travel link for when you really want to pamper yourself.  It doesn’t mean I’ve necessarily visited these places but afterall, a wanderlust woman can dream, right?

When money is no object, the St. Regis Bali Hotel, more specifically the Gardenia Villa, is where I want to be.

The Gardenia Villa boasts a split-level garden and private pool