An Aviophobe Finds “Comfort” in a New Travel Accessory

Believe it or not, even though travel is my business, I really don’t like flying. Over the years I have found a few tricks to ease my anxieties. Meditation, a personal DVD player, valium and now Planecomfort® .

Planecomfort® is an all-in-one travel comfort kit. This cleverly designed travel accessory provides three essential comfort items (50″ x 60″ microfleece blanket, fleece-topped pillowcase and inflatable pillow) in a handy and hands-free tote. The cozy comforts of home, packed to go with you, wherever you travel.

I love the fun and flirty zebra stripe design (also in dots, navy, red and black) that houses the most snuggly, lightweight fleece blanket in an energizing shade of pink. My 7 year old daughter agreed, it’s as comfy as her “blankie” and much cleaner. Perfect for a drafty plane or when you need an extra barrier between you and the stranger in the next seat.

For added convenience, the outside zippered pocket is the perfect place to stow your boarding pass, ID, magazine or snack and included with the fashion prints is a coordinating luggage identifier for your checked bag. How cool is that!”

I was just blown away by the value of this product. $29.99 for the solid styles, $39.99 for the fashion print.

Planecomfort® is ideal for use on planes, trains, and motor coaches – no more sharing pillows and blankets with strangers. I am placing my order for all my sisters to receive one as a special gift before our sister getaway in September.

Other uses for my Planecomfort® :

• Soccer and/or football games– nylon bag for my butt, blanket for my shoulders
• Campfires
• Out on the boat
• Automobile emergency kit (add a first aid kit to the front pocket)
• Sleepovers for the kids
• Daycare

B.Y.O.G. Great Deal Alert!!!

Click here for your own Planecomfort® and other travel accessories at http://shop.planecomfort.net/ and be sure to include the coupon code BYOG upon checkout to receive 15% off your purchase.

B.Y.O.G. Gets By With A Little Help From Her Friends (At Triporama.com)

Everyone has one of those friends. Never responds to emails, doesn’t return your phone calls, never shows up for the planning meetings and then complains the loudest when your Girlfriend Getaway does not meet her expectations. How do you make sure everyone is in the loop, everyone has a say and everyone is happy? Well you can never please everyone but the trip planning services offered by Triporama.com helps make the trip planning process and all the individuals involved more managable.

Triporama offer users the ability to start a group trip planning account. With this account you can send messages to other group members, take polls on destinations, dates, etc.; research getaways and find great deals.

It’s fun, easy and free…check out Triporama and make sure to sign up for their newsletter to get special small group travel deals sent right to your inbox.

Get Your Butt Kicked On The Beach

The B.Y.O.G.’s newest member Bella Vita Retreat invites you to get your butt kicked on beautiful Pompano Beach in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Established in 2003, Bella Vita Retreat is much more than a fun filled, intense fitness retreat, it is an experience.  A place where people will find quality, motivating programs, they can focus on their minds, their health and their bodies in an enviornment that is warm and welcoming. They are focused soley on fitness and producing results for their guests through a blend of nutrition and fitness disciplines that replenish and revive the body. Total body wellness is what they want to acheive. Through this process, their guests feel better, think better and perform better. (In everything they do whether they compete in triatholons or have children to raise)

Join Bella Boot Camp which is designed to be an intensive fitness jump start. Limited to 16 people, the program is unique to each participant. Individual attention and instruction is given daily throughout all of the activities. Classes held all day and range from yoga to Cycle Cardio or Beach Blast you will receive three meals a day and an option to purchase additional spa treatments all in a beach resort setting.

If weight loss is your goal join Bella Weight Loss with a goal of Strength & Fitness, Core Stability, Inner Strength & Weight Loss.

Don’t forget to check out their Girlfriend Getaway Special on the BYOG.

B.Y.O.G.G. (Bring Your Own Green Girlfriend!)

Don’t ask me why, but I am taking a college biology class! I’ve spent the last week listening to lectures, watching films and discussing how humans are ruining the planet. It may not have pushed me to trade in my SUV (it’s all paid off, I can’t do that) but I did make some “baby steps”!

• I bought “green” dish detergent

• I put more effort into my recycling activities

• I did not turn around 5 miles into my trip to pick up the Star Wars toy my 4 year old forgot back at the house

• I did book a weekend stay at the “Greenest Hotel in San Francisco” The Orchard Garden Hotel and the Orchard Hotel in San Francisco.

• I will book a Beach Boot Camp with Bella Vita. I know it is indulgent but I feel it is my duty to the environment since Bella Vita is Bella Green. 

What can you do to save the planet…or maybe just 1 tree at a time? Discover more about the “Greenest Hotel in San Fran”

When is it not a good time for wine?

Ummm….Let’s see NEVER. I’ve even had a wine that would go nicely with my breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt. Not that I have actually done that since I do have a career and children to tend to but I’m just trying to make a point that wine goes with everything. And now, thanks to The BYOG is goes with you! Check out our new line of sheshirts called The Wine Line.

Are we describing wines or the person in the t? You decide. These fun, flirty tshirts are just like your favorite wine perfect for all occasions and won’t give you a headache.

The Secret Is Out: Secret Scenic Tours Joins the BYOG!

What a concept: decide what dates you and the girls want to go away, pick a theme and Secret Scenic Tours does the rest. They even tell you what to pack.

Secret Scenic Tours brings you an overnight mystery motorcoach tour, departing and returning from surrounding Metro areas of Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.  Tours have been chartered through a motorcoach company/tour service in conjunction with distributors, vendors, and local businesses.  The bus rides are kept fun and exciting with games, contests, etc. and the destinations are kept secret (or at least they try–but as my brother-in-law always says “tele-phone, tele-gram, tell a woman”)

Secret Scenic Tours has themed getaways like Rowdy Girlz Review; Wild, Wild West; Weekend Wine Down or the Sweet and Savy Spa Survivors but you can also have one custom tailored to your group. The girls here at BYOG think Secret Scenic Tours are a Godsend to women everywhere who are too busy raising families and/or managing careers to plan a much needed getaway with her girlfriends.

Let Michelle at Secret Scenic Tours do it for you. She has had years of experience at event planning and will make your bachelorette party, girls weekend or company event a special, unique and memorable one.Check them out on the B.Y.O.G. Girlfriend Getaway Guide.

A BYOG Girl On A Getaway Report from Portsmouth NH

If a quaint seaport town with great restaurants, shopping and nightlife is what you and the girls crave then you will want to read our BYOG Girl On A Getaway itinerary fom Portsmouth NH. Located about 40 minutes north of Boston this quaint little seaport village has all the elements of a great girlfriend getaway.Our Getaway Girl stayed with 10 of her closest friends at the Sheraton Portsmouth which is walking distance to everything.

Sleep Sweetly at Sheraton.

The girls did however take a short (but well worth it) road trip to the Wingate Spa located 15 minutes away in Stratham, NH. They had booked ahead of time a group spa time and all enjoyed wonderful treatments and an afternoon tea at the spa. Everyone was completely happy and pampered and for 10 women to say that, no one had a complaint??? Our hats of to The Wingate for that! Off to shop at The Kittery Outlets where everyone scored at least one bargain. Then, back to Portsmouth for some boutique shopping. Art galleries, antiques, unique clothing, bookstores all tucked away in 19^th century brick buildings. Ok, feet are tired, how about a wine tasting. At the wine shop attached to The Portsmouth Gas Light enjoy wines from all over the world at wine tastings every Saturday and Sunday.So now the girls needed some food in their bellies. They walked right next door to The Portsmouth Gas Light Company where you can enjoy a fine dining experience or just chat and get rowdy over pizza. And they had to only move to the 3^rd floor of The Gas Light to dance in the dance club which starts at 9 pm. Only half the girls wanted to shake their booties, the other half popped over to Popovers for cappucino and dessert.After a great nights sleep at The Sheraton the girls made their way to the Friendly Toast for the best breakfast ANYWHERE!!! And the best tattoos on all the wait staff. The weekend was complete with some more shopping in Portsmouth, a nice run and martinis at The Green Monkey.Places they wished they had more time to visit:

The Oar House

Radici’s

Dolphin Striker

Visit Portsmouthnh.com

A Girlfriend Getaway Sans the Girlfriend

We are all about the Girlfriend Getaway, of course but who says you can’t get away with your very best friend (and sometimes worst enemy!)–you.

The Byog staff receives emails frequently from women who want to have that dream getaway, something crazy they have never done before. One problem — no one to go with. Not that they don’t have friends they just can’t find a friend on the same page.  They may not be up for 5 days of rock climbing or Thailand may be a little too exotic for them.

Traveling solo can be intimidating so we liked the idea of a group trip. That is what sparked our interest in Gutsy Women Travel. We are so thrilled to have them on the BYOG. Not only do they have a selection of great getaways to take with a best friend or sister or mom they are also to be enjoyed as a solo traveler.

April Merenda, President and Co-founder of Gutsy Women Travel, responded to a reader in their April, 2007 newsletter  “On every trip there are usually about 50% of the participants who are traveling on their own while the other 50% come with a friend or female relative. It’s a natural instinct for women to nurture one another and bond and you’ll find that by the end of the first evening’s welcome dinner, you’ll feel like old friends with the rest of the group and will wonder why you ever hesitated to come by yourself!”

Check out their listings on the BYOG Guide or visit them online for all international destinations.

Ultimate Girls Getaway Joins The B.Y.O.G!

The B.Y.O.G. is proud to welcome our newest member The Ultimate Girls Getaway. These getaway events were started when Nadja Piatka (from Nadja’s Brownies seen on Oprah!) and her daughter Veronica discovered that in their busy lives there was never enough time to enjoy each other, their girlfriends, or to do the things they love to do……unless they got away….REALLY GOT AWAY!

That was several years ago and every year the Ultimate Getaways get bigger and better! The next event scheduled for October 2007 will take place at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda. What a perfect time to go to Bermuda. The weather is guaranteed perfect, holiday craziness is still far enough off, summer is a distant memory.

The thing about The Ultimate Girls Getaway that appeals most to The B.Y.O.G! staff is that all the activities are planned for you all you need to do is show up (or not…go to the beach and read a book). Enjoy the following activities:

Book a spa appointment

Catch up on some reading at the beach

Hit the links for a round of golf

Snorkel your way around the reefs

Go Horseback riding on the beach

Grab your racket for a tennis match

Explore Bermuda on a scooter

Special Scooter Offer from Smatt’s

Taste award winning cuisine

Meet the following speakers:

“Creating a Charmed Life” with bestselling author Victoria Moran“Messages From The Light” Natalie Smith-Blakeslee a well known Medium Psychic, Medical Intuitive and Pet Communicator

“The Secrets in a Signature” with Beverly East author of the best selling book “Finding Mr. Write – A New Slant on Finding The New Mate”

Salsa Dancing with Angela Hayward

“Fit…has a FEELING!” with Mary Anne Cappellino

TV personalities Christy Bruce and Rebecca Northan will get the party started with their hilarious standup comedy shoe

“Dream it…Achieve it!” Nadja Piatka

Visit the BYOG for more details on accommodation and pricing or The Ulitmate Girls Getaway to find out what past guests have said about this amazing package.

When A Professional Girlfriend Getawayer Needs To Getaway.

I am one of 6 sisters so when the oldest turns 50 in September we seized the opportunity to plan a Sister’s Getaway. Since I am the one who owns and operates a business revolving around Girlfriend Getaways the responsibility of planning this event fell squarely on my shoulders. But you know that’s like asking a teacher to teach summer school or asking your husband, a massage therapist, to rub your shoulders. I love what I do but I do it all day long I don’t want to do it on my vacation. Immediately I asked myself “How am I going to get out of this one? Who was going to be able to pull together 6 women from 3 different areas of the country with some very different ideas on what to do? Then I remembered one of our sponsors, Lisa from Just Girl Trips. Yes, I had my doubts at first, besides a business relationship she didn’t know me personally much less my family.I emailed Lisa with a time frame and general information and asked her to see what she could pull together for us. Lisa shot me back an email with some general questions, where were we coming from, areas of interest, budget, etc. and within a couple days she sent me 4 spectacular, detailed options.

Options included our own rental chalet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; A spa resort in Austin, Texas; a beach resort in Mexico and Miraval Spa in Tucson, AZ.  After some debate we decided on Miraval. Lisa has coordinated our spa treatments and monitored flights for us. We are all so pleased with the service we have received.

I will keep everyone posted on how the trip works out but in the meantime if you have a girlfriend getaway trip to plan and not enough time to plan it I highly recommend Just Girl Trips.Lisa and her company Just Girl Trips will make a fabulous addition to my list of “Professionals I Can Rely On”