Do we have your current address? It's calendar time again.

Our clients love the international photos, tips & other travel information in our travel calendar. Yes, it's that time of year again. I'm still looking for a few addresses & holding a few calendars. Are you one of the few people I've phoned? Do you have a new address? If so, please send me an update. It's easy with our email form on the website. Otherwise... the postage machine is loaded. The data is entered. We'll print a few hundred mailing labels today. If your calendar doesn't arrive in the next 10 business days, let me know!

Oak Bay Marine Group - Much more than a fishing trip!

Book your summer holiday at any one of the Oak Bay Marine Group's locations for an amazing British Columbia experience. It's so much more than a fishing trip. Oak Bay Marine Group is reknowned for terrific fishing, as you'd expect in Canada, plus classic Canadian wildlife & scenery, great guides, adventure, yummy food & more. Why not do some fishing this summer? Have a look at their website. Then contact TPI - Janus Travel. Remember... our motto is "We'll take your there".

Oak Bay Marine Group - Gone Fishing

Today the Oak Bay Marine Group of British Columbia joins the Great Canadian Travel links (at our Touring Canada page). Ron & I have a special fondness for the Oak Bay Marine Group (OBMG). Our first mailing was an OBMG brochure in the shape of a fish. Do you remember it from 1997? You would if you'd seen it. Maybe you've heard us say Ron “reeled me into the travel industry". It's a fact. He reeled me in with "pretty pictures" from our suppliers. Some of the earliest & best "bait" images were from the Oak Bay Marine Group's brochures & videos. There's more to say about Oak Bay Marine Group tomorrow. In the meantime... I've gone fishing.

Tip 3 - Your water bottle is your friend

Once you're at your destination, keep using that water bottle. You'll find the staff at all-inclusive destinations will be happy to fill it with your beverage of choice. Take the bottle on day tours. Make it your friend. Reducing waste helps make your travel more sustainable. You'll feel good about helping the earth.

Tip 2 - Hydrate & be eco-friendly too!

Travel Tip 2 - To avoid jet lag, drink fluids. Water is best. Juice will help. Coffee, tea, colas, carbonated soft drinks or alcohol will not. In fact, those are all contributors to jet lag.

If you dont want to ask the flight attendants to bring multiple little plastic glasses, bring your TPI - Janus Travel water bottle. Just remember not to put anything in the bottle when you go through security. Ask the flight attendants to fill it for you. You'll be making their job easier. It's more eco-friendly too!

Walterdale Playhouse

I'll be adding a new link to the Canadian Arts & Culture links later today. One of my favourite places in Edmonton is Walterdale Playhouse. It's a community theatre with a long history of terrific productions. It's 100% volunteer driven, produced & administered. Plus it's in a beautiful historic building in Edmonton's Strathcona district. In September we attended Walterdale's 50th Anniversary Celebration. It was great to reunite with many of our friends. Here's to the next 50 years with Walterdale Playhouse!

I'm going back to school

Ongoing training is part of our daily routine in the travel industry. We attend seminars, product launches & other events. We do site visits at hotels when we travel. Now I'm going back to school... on-line. Earlier this year I completed the Israel Wonders Workshop. Most recently, I'm starting a Puerto Vallarta Specialist program. There's always something new to learn (& great pictures.) Did you already guess that we have a special interest in Mexico?

¿Dónde estás Norberto? Where are you Norberto?

Some of you will remember our friend Norberto from the Going Places page & the photo albums of Cuba & Puerto Vallarta. He's the smiling man in the middle of this Los Candelas photo. He's Cuban & a terrific trumpet player. I hope we see him again in Puerto Vallarta but there's been no email from Norberto for a long time. I hope he & his family are all OK. Where are you Norberto?

Going to La Bodeguita del Medio

Recently, we added a Puerto Vallarta stop to our January trip and I had a nice surprise. I heard from my cousins in Vancouver that they'll be in Vallarta Nayarit (Nuevo Vallarta). We plan to meet Jeff, Bev, Jonathan & Matthew at La Bodegita del Medio after we arrive. La Bodeguita del Medio is the Cuban restaurant & club featured on the Going Places page. La Bodeguita has great live Cuban music at night, plus the best mojitos in Puerto Vallarta! It's right on the malecon by the ocean so it's easy to find. I'm looking forward to seeing my cousins again. It's always fun.

Today TPI - Janus Travel has translation! Thanks Whytespace!

After I wrote today's earlier posts, I sent a quick email to Travis Whyte of Whytespace Ltd. I only wanted to put translation services on the agenda for a meeting on December 9th. His reply just arrived saying it's done & "it's so cool". Travis is right. Now every page on http://www.janustravel.ca/ is accessible in many languages. As a result, here I am blogging again for a record 3rd time in one day & I want to acknowledge Travis again. He really astounded me this time. Thanks Travis... You are awesome!

Today's blog translated with Yahoo! Babel Fish

Today's post was translated using Yahoo! Babel Fish. I don't use these programs often, but when I do this is the one I like. It has plenty of languages. Try it on this post. If you do that, please do me a favour. Translate it to Spanish & post it as a comment for my friends in Mexico.

Muchas graçias Anabel y Miguel! In English & Spanish

Yesterday I let you know that our January trip to Mexico starts at Las Palmas by the Sea in Puerto Vallarta for 6 nights.

Then we'll be on our way to Mazatlan. On my birthday in September, Ron & I met up with our friend Anabel from the Faro Mazatlan Resort. (Don't miss the great video on their home page!) There's no better way to celebrate than looking at beautiful travel pictures, right? Anabel was in Edmonton for a tourist board seminar on Mazatlan & the Copper Canyon. Much to my surprise my birthday present was 4 days & 3 nights at the Faro Mazatlan. Then her colleague representing the Copper Canyon added to it. Muchas graçias Anabel y Miguel! Hasta en enero.

Traducción española usando Alta Vista - Babel Fish

Le dejé ayer saber que nuestro viaje a México comienza en el Las Palmas por el mar en Puerto Vallarta en enero.

Después que su norte a Mazatlan. En septiembre, & de Ron; Me reuní a nuestro amigo Anabel del centro turístico de Faro Mazatlan. (Don' falta de t el gran vídeo en el Home Page!) Era mi cumpleaños. There' ¿s ninguna mejor manera de celebrar que mirando los cuadros hermosos del recorrido, la derecha? Anabel estaba en Edmonton para un seminario de la junta para el turismo sobre el & de Mazatlan; la barranca de cobre. Mucho a mi sorpresa mi presente de cumpleaños era & de 4 días; 3 noches en el Faro Mazatlan. Entonces su colega que representaba la barranca de cobre agregó a ella. ¡Graçias Anabel y Miguel de Muchas! Enero del en de Hasta.

Terrific Sale at Las Palmas Resort

Our Announcements page is the place to look for sales & special travel offers!

Check our announcement page. Our favourite Puerto Vallarta hotel, Las Palmas By the Sea Resort, is having a sale: $55 USD per person per night all-inclusive. The price applies between now & February 28th for bookings confirmed and paid in advance. It's such a great value we added a six night Puerto Vallarta visit to our own Mexico trip. We'll be there in Janurary. Join us or book some other dates. Use our convenient email form on the website. For more information and links see our Announcements , Going Places & Resources pages.

Where are you? It's calendar season

Yes, it's almost December again. It's time for our annual TPI - Janus Travel calendars. This year there are 400 of them and I'm getting ready to mail about 250 -300. Everyone seems to know & love these calendars with their international destinations & travel tips. Both Roy F. and Martha S. emailed a new address, postal code.etc. using our new webmail form. You can't miss it. It's that email icon on each page of our website. Since I do most of the prep for this huge mailing, I loved this use of the webmail. So please... Let me know where you are! Send me your new contact information if you've moved. I'll send your calendar.

Lee Anne Pellerin - Part 2 Small World

When we added Lee Anne Pellerin's home page as a link in our Great Canadian Arts & Culture section we didn't own any of her work. That's changed recently. Ron was doing an errand at Lando Gallery on Friday. He came back & told me about a photograph that said "take me home". Since I know that's the only way we buy art, I went to see it. The piece became his Christmas present on Saturday. Here's the bonus... Ron didn't know it was Lee Anne's until he looked closer. She happens to be one of the wonderful people in our network. You see... it is a small world.

Lee Anne Pellerin - Part 1

My first addition to the Great Canadian Arts & Culture links on the Touring Canada page is Lee Anne Pellerin. She is an amazing local photographic artist here in Edmonton. Her work is on display at the Lando Gallery (which is the second addition to our Arts & Culture links.) Lee Anne's art is ahead of its time and impeccably produced.

Why does the TPI - Janus Travel website include Arts & Culture links?

If you haven't seen it yet, browse our Touring Canada page. Don't miss the Great Canadian Links section in the middle. Once you've seen it, you might wonder "Why does the TPI - Janus Travel website have Arts & Culture links?" That's a reasonable question. Exploring culture is one of the reasons we love to travel. Attending theatre and music events is a real treat for us.

What you may not realize is that Ron and I have a long history of involvement in artistic & cultural activities (locally and elsewhere in Canada). Ron was a full-time film projectionist before he was an entrepreneur. His extensive career as a theatre & stage technician began in high school. My family helped inspire my love of culture. After 40 years I'm still playing flute & reading voraciously. It was natural to show our support for artists of all types on the TPI - Janus Travel website.

Can you find my desktop?

Recently a picture that my cousin Jane contributed to the TPI - Janus Travel Photo Gallery caught my eye. I liked it so much that it's now the desktop on my computer. Can you find it? Here's a hint: it's brightly coloured and it's the inside of a tent.

Are you dreaming of ancient places?

Today I'm adding one of my favourite websites as a Resource link. If you're dreaming of travel to ancient places, there's great browsing at: New 7 Wonders of the World. Each of these places inspires dreams of travel. Ron & I voted in a process that first selected 14 finalists from the nominees. More than one hundred million votes were cast. Then these Official New 7 Wonders of the World were announced in Lisbon on July 7, 2007.

P.S. It's official... this blog has its first comment. Thanks Chris! I'm sure your travel dreams will come true and you'll have great journeys in your future.

Jack and Chris, are you out there?

This is a special one-time only message for our grandsons Jack and Chris. My grandsons are awesome! Jack, the "less old" grandson, saw this website for the first time recently and planned to look through the pictures. Like most people younger than me, Chris and Jack are also really comfortable with computers. So I think they know how to blog. Hey guys, if you're out there... write me a comment and tell me which part of the website you like the best.

For everyone else - Your comments are equally welcome.

Small World Collage

Explore our world with travel.

TPI - Janus Travel We'll take you there

Tip 1 - Travel Makes Your World Smaller

When Ron and I travel it seems to make the world smaller. People make many different types of connections during their journeys. Our connections come from big and small things. It can be almost anything: sporting events; a shopping excursion; food; language; meeting people on a bus; making music or listening to it; or just sitting on a chair in a lobby. We know people can return from a trip around the world or around the block with a better understanding of different cultures. Travel gives us a greater appreciation of the world. The world becomes a smaller place and we become less isolated in it. When you travel, I hope you experience the same "small world" phenomenon.

Revisiting Africa on Remembrance Day

Jane Hurtig, my cousin, is living in Mauritania and graciously gave me access to her photo gallery. I finally had a chance to spend some time viewing more of those pictures. Once again there are lots of additions to the TPI - Janus Travel Photo Gallery. Please go have a look now. Do you like the new ones? And by the way... It's Remembrance Day. Lest we forget.

And the lighthouse is...

The lighthouse in the North Carolina album is the Cape Fear Lighthouse on Long Island. Jan Sternbach will either confirm this or correct me. She's my North Carolina expert.

Is there something a travel agent likes more than great photos?

Here I am adding Bob & Beth's photos from Paris to the Photo Gallery. It reminded me once again that vicarious travel is a real fringe benefit of my job. What's even better is that the McColls had a great time. In my opinion, the only thing a travel agent likes more than great photos is travelling itself.

Did you notice?

Did you notice there was only one picture in the Europe album at the TPI - Janus Travel Photo Gallery? Not any more! Thanks to Bob and Beth McColl there's lots of amazing pictures from Paris now. Thanks again to the McColls. There are four from this batch in the Happy Travellers album too. Stay tuned for more. I've got another batch to look at. (The gallery has only a small fraction of Beth & Bob's Parisian photo collection.) It's a real treat...

Where in the world is Cindy? Part 2

On October 29th, I wrote about 3 of the blog banner photos. It's time to let you know where I am for the others. See if you can find the rest of these pictures on this page:

• Me in front of the Bellbird Hotel, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia (an easy one)
• Me at Kitimiluk National Park (formerly Katherine Gorge), Northern Territory, Australia
• Garden view from a French Polynesian balcony
• Underwater view of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland Australia
• Chair, sandy beach & palapa in Loreto Bay, Mexic0.
  

Yes Virginia there is no caption

Virginia Trawick, aka Gina, is my daughter-in-law and yes it's true. There are some photos without captions or titles. I'm working on it (a lot.) It's fun organizing our travel pictures and adding the titles. However, if you haven't seen the photo gallery yet... do take a look. There are LOTS of photos. Our website launch was so successful, I am adding more. Ron, Travis and I haven't had time to count exactly how many photos are in the gallery. The initial estimate during our development stage was 650 to 700.

Thanks for a Great Launch - Part 2

This is a special thanks to Steve Bradshaw and Carl Henderson for their travel photos. Steve is a friend and his first contributions is in a Mexico subalbum. He went on a real adventure to the Copper Canyons of Mexico, all the way to Batopilas. Look for the Mexico album, open it, & then it's easy to find the Mexico - Chihuahua subalbum. Carl is a world traveller and a colleague. He took some amazing photos during his 12 month "sabbatical" a few years ago. Carl's photos will be in a variety of albums.

Thanks for a great launch (not a typo) - Part 1

Thank you for your great responses to our website launch. Wow. Since the official launch on Friday last week, there's been a steady flow of emails, your feedback and photos. I'm thrilled.

Don't be shy! Send it all... your ideas for additions or changes are all welcome.