ALAN GALLAWAY - MYSTERY GUEST SPEAKER - TRAVEL TIPS
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We were unfortunate tonight because our scheduled speaker, Shelly Andrews, Librarian, was ill with the flu, and could not make the meeting. We were fortunate because we had a "mystery speaker" in the wings who volunteered to step forward and fill the void. So we didn't learn about books or libraries, but we did get a few practical tips from Alan Gallaway about what he has learned in his extensive travels.. |
| Mystery Speaker Alan Gallaway |
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| Alan said that he has usually averaged 20 to 50 thousand miles a year, traveling to where is yacht is located and one or sometimes two big trips a year. For instance, last year he went to Machu Picchu. He said the first most important thing is to have an up to date passport. He said that he generally uses "Travelocity" which has worked best for him. When her is looking for bargains he might go to "Travel Zoo". For instance, he once went from San Francisco to Bejing for 3 days of tours for only $800.00. He said that he got this bargain partly because he went in the wrong time of year - winter - and it was kind of "nippy". The best time to book a flight is usually Tuesday or Wednesday and his wife says that best time of day is 1-2 a.m. in the morning. Alan said that he likes to use an airline credit card to book a flight on a particular airline - like Delta, United, etc. You can get the advantage of early bag checking and priority boarding sometimes. And with points, you can get a free ticket to anywhere in the U.S. Alan further said that he likes to wear a special travel vest with about 18 pockets in which he can shelve lots of "stuff" like flashlight, nasal spray, iPhone etc and he also mentioned that if you are lucky enough to be 75 or older, you don't have to take off your shoes. He also said that he thinks the best way to get foreign money is to go to an ATM. They generally give you the best rate of exchange. He used Hotels.com for booking a room for a night or two and also likes Tripadvisor. Some other tips are to put a "Rotary Pin" on your shirt. It is possible that you could meet an interesting Rotarian or two in your travels (it has happened to Alan) and get an App which converts money, and translates meters in to feet, killometers, and liters into gallons. Alan likes to have "language Apps" especially English to Spanish or Italian. Try to get an aisle seat if possible on the plane and if you have time "read up" about the country you are going to visit. President Thorman thanked "mystery speaker" Alan for his interesting and informative, practical dissertation and didn't have to tell him that in honor of his lecture, a book will be donated to the Carmichael Library. (As bulletin editor, I was impression by Alan's knowledge. I will use some of his "tips" and I was impressed by Toastmasters skills, and that he had such a good talk "in the can" so to speak.)
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