Jane Lasky

on

Elements of Travel

Illustration by Paul Jackson

swine flu fear

Sure, I'm depressed.
No, it's not because of this new flu strain. For that, us professional sojourners are privy to all kinds of modern devices to make us feel more secure while we keep on moving on. For instance, to scare the germs away there are many brands of travel-sized hand sanitizers, including my favorite: Purell (www.purell.com) because, yes, "this is a touchable world." Other healthy devices -- like the Toothbrush Hygiene Helper (www.toorhbrushhygienehelper.com), a new storage system with vents to keep your toothbrush dry, clean, and, ulitmately safe -- create a more secure state of mind as we traverse from place to place, from country to country.
In short, the so-called swine flu won't keep me from any journey -- no how, no way.
What will (and does) requires some explaining:
As a career travel writer (35 years) who became a travel writer because I am a travel-aholic, I confess that it's tough not being able to jump on a plane whenever I feel the urge. I once roved at will. For so long, all I needed was my pre-packed suitcase, a vague idea of where I was going, my passport, an emergency credit card -- and I was off to discover the world.
So why not now?
Sady, in these trying times, money is a major concern. I can manage a few trips a month, but, as a self-confessed travel junkie, I stay home far more than I find comfortable.
So how to fund my next fix?
For starters, I scrimp and save while I am on the home front. To some extent, that works, but the longer I am in my abode, the more I become disheartened, the faster I blow my travel budget. eBay is my friend, but she is just not generous enough to get me to the next destination fast enough.
So, I do my best to save WHILE I travel.
When I am away, I unplug all the outlets in my house (yes, the electric bill has gone down since I started doing this a few years ago). I diet (OK, fast) unless someone else is picking up the tab, I take doggie bags back to my hotel where there is no doggie, and I eat all the apples and hard candies I find in bowls on front desks everywhere.
I take public transportation instead of those handy cabs I gaze at ever-so-lovingly and I walk when I really want to ride. And, unless I am on expense account -- which is becoming more a dream than a reality these days -- I take the cheapest flight and stay in the cheapest hotel I can find.
Before I leave, I do what I can, like cashing in my frequent flyer points and hotel loyalty rewards. Sadly, these staple travel perks don't get me nearly as far as they once did. In fact, it usually takes extra cash before they become usable at all.
When I go, I lug my laptop and broadband stick with me, which I constantly use so I can work when I am away -- not ideal since when I travel I like to see where I am when I am where I wanted to go. Still, I make this sacrifice. Gladly.
Sorry to say, all this just is not enough -- and that's where you come in. Do you have any more tips on how to stay solvent while still taking to the road each and every time I so desire? Please share. I am desperate. Wanderlust is my life and right now I feel like I am under house arrest.

Yours in travel,
Jane

Writer's write: Memories of the Algonquin Hotel, New York City

by Jane Lasky
As little more than a novice journalist back in the early 1980s, I thought I had arrived when escorted to a table at the fabled Algonquin Hotel's lobby lounge to meet with Brendan Gill of The New Yorker.
Sadly, that feeling didn't last long.
My husband, a fan of the late theater critic, had tagged along, waiting for me to ask Mr. Gill if it was OK if he joined us. While working up to that query, out of the corner of my eye I noticed the man I married taking part in a very animated conversation with the maitre 'd. After a lot of back and forth, my mate unhappily took a jacket the restaurateur was carrying and put it on.
Indeed, it was a very sheepish spouse wearing a very serene dinner jacket three sizes too big that sat down with Brendan Gill and me. Sadly, I can't even remember morsels of the conversation being truly mortified by what had transpired before we ever delved into discussion.
It seems that back then, it was tradition that men wear at least a sports jacket if they wanted to have discourse or any course in the lobby lounge, the famous Round Table Room or in the Algonquin's other food and drink venues.
These days, though, the hotel seems to be more lax on that requirement. A recent call to this mainstay Manhattan hotel produced this answer: "It's OK not to wear a jacket in our dining rooms, especially until the fall through to the early spring," said the assertive female voice at the other end of the line. And, when pressing the issue by asking if this was a change from previous protocol, she said, "Just so long as a person is neatly dressed..."
What she said sent my mind back to that fateful first visit. I guess I will never forget my initial meeting at and with the venerable Algonquin, a hotel every writer I know wants to experience at least once in his or her lifetime.
Given that statement, I want a do-over.
And when I do go and if a gentleman accompanies me, whether that be a husband or a colleague or a really good friend, apparently it will be permissible for him to show up sans jacket. Still, remembering my husband's unnerving circumstances, I don't think we will take any chances.
Indeed, should the attire be inappropriate, I might miss out on what is happening at this famous place with its many meaningful memories. Among other indelible events, this was the venue where Dorothy Parker and her cronies regularly met, forming their fabled "Vicious Circle" in the 1920s. It is also where my contemporaries like Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall launched their crooning careers at the Oak Room's sassy cabaret forum.
A number of other famous faces have found their way to the Algonquin, born in 1905 and a member of the Historic Hotels of America. Today, the New York property still carries its cache, as well as a cast of new allures, thanks to a major refurbishment to bring the savvy hotel up-to-date. Among the changes are the additions of spiffy plasma screen televisions and wireless Internet, both technological musts that should snare new media types to seek out this revered space.
As for me, I don’t plan to snap on the tube or even boot up my laptop during my next visit. Instead, in the spirit of Dorothy Parker and Brendan Gill, I will make appointments that ensure face-to-face discussions with my New York editors, they themselves high-profile members of what should be considered the new literati. After all, in a place as steadfast as the immortal Algonquin, such traditions must continue.

A HIGHLAND FLING AT ST. ANDREWS

By Jane Lasky

May 24, 2008 -- I suppose there's something sacrosanct about not swinging a club when you visit St. Andrews, the pride of Scotland. At least that's what most golfers say when they learn I had recently been to the birthplace of their favorite pastime. In my defense, I don't even qualify as a duffer, so to me it would have been tremendously irreverent to try and chase a little white ball around those hallowed grounds.

What I did qualify for was to soak up the splendor of these environs by checking into the Old Course Hotel, Golf Course & Spa, a member of the prestigious Connoisseurs Scotland. There, I was assigned a delightful room with a bird's-eye view of the 17th hole. So, in a way, I automatically became a golf participant without embarrassing myself (or anyone else, for that matter). No dirty divots from me.

Instead, I stood on my balcony, catching sight of the Fife coastline and, closer in, the landmark Swilkin Bridge, an ancient stone span previously traversed by golf greats, from Harry Vardon and Bobby Jones to Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. That day and as is tradition, some less-identifiable players were stopped there, snapping photos of each other to prove they had completed a round at St. Andrews.

What bucks tradition at St. Andrews in The Old Course property is the dramatic suite over which most hotel enthusiasts who relish contemporary luxury would most definitely swoon. While much of the five-star resort suggests a castle-like experience both inside and out, the newly resuscitated accommodations do not. Instead, Wisconsin-based Kohler Company (of top-flight kitchen and bath fixtures fame), the current owners of this legendary place, have brought their guest digs into the 21st century with mega-modern infusions such as chromatherapy tubs and handsome, one-of-a-kind, above-board ceramic basins.
The reinvented bedrooms are none too shabby either. Red-and-white stripes spiff up wallpaper, privacy curtains and chair upholstery while magnificent sleigh beds promise a good night's sleep.

So does a trip to the Kohler Spa, a sanctuary of treatments and regimes based on the theory of thassalotherapy, or, in lay(wo)man's terms, the therapeutic benefits of water. Nowhere is this more evident than in the overflowing infinity bath, the open-air pole showers and the mesmerizing waterfall known as RiverBath.
Treatments run the gamut, up to and including the Kohler's signature Highland Fling. During this extensive spa experience, takers are covered in finely ground, mint-scented coffee and then drenched by spine-tingling Vichy showers that traverse the entire body to exfoliate and rejuvenate.

As I enjoyed the spa and so much more about The Old Course (particularly The Conservatory for high tea and the convivial Jigger Inn pub for a Scotch and some laughs), I fought the urge to partake of the sport du jour at St. Andrews. Indeed, the entire time I was there I couldn't stop thinking about golf, so to cure this insanity, I gave in and made an appointment with the PGA pro.

With that admission I must add that instead of hitting the links, we hit the Duke's Course Clubhouse restaurant for a change of pace and some lighthearted chatter (not all of it in golf speak) while I devoured perhaps the best fish and chips I have ever eaten. In the end, I experienced the ideal lesson this hacker girl could ever fathom, so rewarding that I would jump at the chance for a similar scenario the next time I steal myself away to Scotland. (This column is Copyright © 2008 by Jane Lasky)
For further information, go to http://oldcoursehotel.kohler.com.

 

 

ABOUT JANE LASKY Jane Lasky is a Los Angeles-based transplanted New Yorker who has journalistically covered the world for the past three decades in newspapers, in magazines, in books, in newsletters, on Internet sites, on television, and on the radio. She wrote the bi-annual Business Travel News and Advice column for Esquire magazine from 1984 to 1988, and since then has authored the syndicated Business Travel Report column which appears in some 30 newspapers. She has been host of Trips & Tips on the Travel Channel and appears regularly as a travel expert on the lecture circuit and on television, the most memorable of which was when she swapped tipping tips with Oprah in 1994. From 1996 to 2003, she has explored cultural etiquette and has offered travel tips on AOL's international channel sponsored by American Express. Jane always travels with her pillow, she succumbs to jet lag only when she has to, and she is definitely NOT the accidental tourist!

contact Jane: Jane Lasky