Tag Archives: vacation

NCL Alaska Cruise 2019

It’s hard to believe that nearly a month has gone by since my cruise to Alaska. My husband and I cruised with 2 other friends. The natural beauty of the Last Frontier was breath taking. I have so many photos of spectacular mountains and waterfalls, each one more awe inspiring than the last. We were blessed with beautiful weather, sunny each day with not a drop of rain (despite everything I’d heard about being prepared for rain daily). It was an experience I’ll never forget. We want to return someday just to explore more inland. I highly recommend our travel agent, Terri, she was great – and put up with lots of questions 🙂 Continue reading →

Make Your Pet Care Reservations Soon

June is here !! The school year is winding down (or has already ended) … your summer schedule is about to begin. Have you already planned your vacation or getaway? Have you made plans for your pets while you are away?

In order to fully relax and enjoy yourself while you are away, you need to know that your furry family members are lovingly being taken care of. Let’s face it, they are not just pets, they’re family … like a child or grandchild. I believe they have feelings and emotions, just like us. Evidence of this can be seen by their excitement when we arrive home at the end of the day. They lavish us with affection. They snuggle with us if we’re sad or feeling sick. They love us as much as we love them, you can see it expressed in their eyes. Furry children, just like their human counterparts, need TLC.

At Tracy Helps You, we love all kinds of animals and we take pet care seriously. We think your pet should feel pampered, like they are on their own stress free ‘stay-cation’ while you are gone. We’re not talking about a trip to the local boarding kennel. Let us take care of them for you. We will come to your home to visit them … spend time playing with them or taking them for a nice walk, above and beyond the basics of food, water and ‘bladder relief’. Just let us know how many daily visits you would like for them to have.

If you prefer, we can also stay in your home while you are away. In addition to caring for your pets, we can take care of some of your routine household chores for you … bring in the mail and newspaper; water your garden and/or houseplants, curb service on garbage day, etc. Having someone ‘home’ everyday will give you peace of mind knowing that your home is secure and that your pets are safe.

Call today to make a pet care reservation with Tracy Helps You !

5 Tips When Hiring a Pet Sitter / House Sitter

Hope these Tips “help” when you are choosing the person you will be hiring to care for your pets and home while you are away.

Always meet with the pet sitter in your home. Watch how they interact with your pet and how your pet interacts with them. Be alert for any hints that it may not be a good match … animals are usually a pretty good judge of character 🙂
Before you leave town, make sure to write the pet sitter a note with all the pertinent details that you had previously discussed. It will be good for them to have the instructions to refer back to while you are away.
Leave contact information for the vet, as well as, for someone local (like a neighbor or nearby family member) they can call in case of an emergency.
Remember to write down important codes / passwords for the pet sitter (like for the garage door, TV & wifi) to use during their time of taking care of your pets and home.
Let the pet sitter know if you have other services scheduled to take place while you are gone (like the housekeeper comes around 2 on Thursdays … or … someone is coming to power wash the deck at 10 am on Monday). Speaking from experience, it’s not fun to be startled … for either party 🙁

Pet Sitting, House Sitting & Pet Care are a few of the many services we offer at Tracy Helps You. Is there any way we can “help” you ?

First Camping Trip of the Year

My husband and I love to go camping 🙂

As you know from a previous blog post, we purchased a used travel trailer last month. That post detailed all that happened, but to sum it up, we were deceived and bought a camper that had several issues. We spent the month of May and many $$ to get it ready for safe travels … everything isn’t perfect, but we repaired what we felt were the most important items.

This weekend we are embarking on our Maiden Voyage with it 🙂

We picked it up from the RV repair place on Thursday, and I have been getting all our camping gear transferred from our old pop-up camper to the new one. It’s been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun setting up house in our new (to us) home away from home.

We have been watching lots of You Tube videos to learn how everything works. We’ve (well I have) read the owners manual cover to cover. We have camped for many years, but never in a camper.

We have to learn how to:

level the camper at the campsite
hook up the electric and water
operate the awning
make sure the propane is on and the frig & stove work
take care of all the bathroom chemical stuff
emptying the holding tanks (you know what I’m talking about)
and stuff we haven’t even thought of 🙂

I’m hoping for a wonderful weekend filled with fun memories of this first camping trip in our new camper. And I’m hoping that these new fun memories will replace my first disappointing ones & help me to regain the excitement I had when we first decided we were going to buy a camper with a bathroom – a definite upgrade from our pop-up.

Let the fun begin 🙂

Planning A Vacation ~ Spring Break or Anytime

As you may or may not know, I used to be a travel agent. Planning a vacation was one of my main job duties. I was actually employed in the travel industry for 25 plus years. As well as being a travel agent, I also worked in the reservations department for Apple Vacations for a couple of years, and worked for United Express Airlines for 14 years. All that to say, I’ve planned a vacation or two in my day 🙂
Lots of things have changed since I graduated from travel school in the 80’s … the internet being the most profound one. Planning a vacation online is easy for anyone with even a modest familiarity with computers.
Many people book their own travel these days. Most travel websites are very user friendly, guiding the user along each step of the way. After just a few clicks of your mouse and entering in your credit card info, you can pretty much start packing your bags 🙂
Perhaps these check lists (that I’ve found online) will be helpful to you as you plan your next vacation …

Always remember, if you don’t have the time or just plain don’t feel like it, I would be happy to “help” you by doing all the vacation planning research for you … I’m just a phone call away 🙂

Need A Ride ???

Are you traveling for the holidays? Do you need a ride to or from the airport? Maybe you need a ride to and from a doctor’s appointment or hospital for an out-patient procedure. Many people choose to take care of medical appointments at the end of the year to take advantage of flex spending account balances and paid deductibles. Continue reading →

Good Bye Cold, Chicago Winter … Hello Warm, Sunny Mexico

I have the privilege of going on a Baja Mexico Cruise (and escaping the brutal cold) in the middle of January. It was a very generous birthday gift from my husband and kids. I’ll be cruising with my aunt, I can’t wait ! Soon, I’ll be lounging poolside with a Pina Colada (sp?) in my hand 🙂

However, before I go, there is lots of work to be done:
Shopping – travel sized items and new sandals 🙂 plus grocery shopping for the fam while I’m gone … after all, we don’t want them starving to death in my absence.
Laundry – to bring my favorite outfit on my trip, plus I’m sure the hubby will appreciate clean clothes to wear.
Packing – I need to bring clothes for hot, mexico type weather but also some things for cooler weather in the 60’s predicted for Catalina Island (our first port of call). I had to go with the big suitcase … I always think I can fit everything in the carry-on, but I never can. I usually bring too much, but I like to have choices 🙂
Mani/Pedi – I have to … scary winter feet and horrible cuticles, plus I feel pretty when I get pampered 🙂

I was starting to feel overwhelmed when I had a past client call asking for a last minute pet sitting (due to a death in her family). I was pretty booked already, but didn’t want to let her down. Lucky for me, my daughter volunteered to take down all our Christmas decorations for me. That took a load of stress off me.

It’s the first time I’m traveling alone in a long time, but I think I’m going to really enjoy getting away for a while. I hope I don’t miss my hubby and kids too much 🙂

BON VOYAGE !!

I’m Dreaming of a Warm, Sunny Spring Break Beach Vacation

It’s the middle of February 2014 ~ time is flying by fast … but not fast enough for those of us who are getting tired of winter. Yes, I’m still working on my early kitchen spring cleaning project, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

I’m sitting at my desk, watching the snow fall outside my office window, while I’m watching a slide show of my last warm sunny vacation to the Bahamas for my anniversary last year. We took a cruise on NCL … it was wonderful. We had so much fun ~ great food, live shows, numerous choices for entertainment, fun excursions, plenty of free time for relaxing on deck ~ I really ♥ cruising!

This greeted us as we boarded our cruise ship, the Norwegian Sky.

Alas, we aren’t taking a spring break trip this year … but I’d love to help you plan yours. Where would you like to go? Close by or far away? With kids or without? Lounging on a beach or packed with action and adventure? What’s your dream vacation look like? Share your ideas of your dream vacation in the comments below 🙂

I have decades of experience working in the travel industry … at times I really miss it. I’d love to work with you to find the perfect vacation for your family. BTW, I can also take care of your pets for you while you’re away … such a deal 🙂

Pet Care

August ~ the dog days of summer ! There are only a few weeks left to fit in all the things you wanted to do before busy autumn schedules take over. Why is it that time flies by so quickly during the summer and drags by so slowly during the winter?

Hopefully, one of the things you had on your summer To-Do List was a nice vacation to relax and feel refreshed and rejuvenated. If not, we can help you http://tracyhelpsyou.com/planning-your-summer-vacation. It’s not too late, the last-minute deals are sometimes the best bargains. Whether it’s a full fledged vacation, or a quick weekend getaway, you should take one before summer ends! Continue reading →

photo by: Claudio Matsuoka