I’m Nora Walsh, the founder of Patchwork Compass. My greatest passion in life is traveling to new destinations, experiencing foreign cultures and connecting with all walks of life.
I started Patchwork Compass to provide inspiring content and practical travel information to help others navigate their journeys.
Michelle Higgins provides a host of travel websites that help you get refunds on airlines and hotels.
It was the first time I had heard of Tingo.com, which is a hotel reservation site that will automatically rebook and refund you the money if your room rate drops below the price you originally paid.
Did you know that Orbitz.com has a refund service called Price Assurance? Me neither. Check it out.
@MlleTravelista is a hedonist, wanderluster, shutterbug, paris & dublin expat, toronto repat, lover of serendipity, glocal enthusiast, curiouser and curiouser.
Here are her instagrammed moments in New York City this Memorial Day weekend.
I always love seeing the beauty of New York through a traveler’s eyes.
Scenes from Central Park.
Brooklyn Bridge.
Flatiron Building.
Midtown Manhattan cityscape.
A long work week can really make you crave comfort food, especially big pots of cheese, which the French like to call fondue.
I like to convince myself it is semi-healthy because I am dunking fruit and vegetables into the pound of melted gruyere. Healthy or not, the combo is delicious and the atmosphere is intimate.
Try the Mushroom Royale Fondue with gruyere & emmenthaler, roasted, wild mushrooms, thyme, and pineau des chantres served with herbed potatoes braised artichokes, toast points and bacon ($26.00).
Also take a gander at their famous for their wine cocktails.
The New York Time’s Style Magazine May Travel Issue ran an article by journalist Joyce Maynard on San Marcos called “Paradise Lost”.
It’s about her history of survival, and a life and home she continued to build in San Marcos that is persistently challenged by nature’s elements.
In the article Maynard quotes a Mayan woman saying that “‘To the Mayan people, everything is about cycles,’ Rain comes down. Plants grow up. The lake rises. The lake falls. The lake rises again.”
Many times when I meditate I imagine myself back on a quiet dock in San Marcos looking across calm lake to the imposing Volcano Atitlan.
By sliding back into this serene memory, I am able to wear the weather of my own life cycle. No matter what storm hits my shores, San Marcos is always a paradise that helps me find a measurement of peace.
New to this list: Bowery Diner, Allswell, Isa, Kutsher’s, Betel, North End Grill, Caffe Storico, The Cannibal.
If you liked the Alexander McQueen 2011 Spring Costume exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art last year, which I covered here, you may also like the new fashion exhibit: ‘Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: Impossible Conversations’.
The exhibition compares the two influential female designers, Schiaparelli from late 1920s to the early 1950s and Prada from the late 1980s to the present. About 100 designs and 40 accessories will be featured.
Dates: May 10, 2012 - August 19, 2012
Address: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York
More info: (212) 535-7710; www.metmuseum.org
*Photo Credits: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sofia Elgueta provides insights on family travel she learned while visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week of relaxation and family fun with her 18-month old daughter.
TIP 4: Organize your time: family, alone, couple.
Toddlers have very specific needs, and they will demand that these needs be met at the top of their lungs. Everyone will be happier if you keep your baby’s routine as undisturbed as possible, still allowing for some holiday flexibility, but making sure s/he eats and sleeps enough and when s/he needs to.
We chose an all-inclusive hotel package at the Occidental Grand Nuevo Vallarta because food available all the time. The resort was small so we wouldn’t have to walk too far to get to the restaurants, beach or pools … or back to the room to get something we’d forgotten. We requested a ground floor room for the same reason.
We planned family time around our baby’s schedule. She’d wake up very early 6.30am or 7am and have a bottle of milk and some cereal. She’d play around the room or watch cartoons for a bit and want to go down for a nap. When she woke up from her morning nap, we went to breakfast. We were usually ready for some family fun at the pool/beach immediately after that.
Usually we had a light lunch between noon and 1pm and went back to the room for her afternoon nap. We had some more family fun at the pool when she woke up again around 4pm.
After that, we went back to the room to shower and get dressed for dinner. We had dinner every night between 6pm and 7pm. We made sure we took our stroller (and a light blanket) along so she could fall asleep in it, if she was too tired to last through dinner. If this happened, we enjoyed an extra drink and adult conversation after our meal.
You also need some alone time to do exactly what you want to do in your holiday. If you spend absolutely all the time focusing on your child(ren), you will go back more tired than you left, thinking everything is just easier when you’re home and “this didn’t feel like a holiday at all”. Because our baby was sick the first few days, we felt a bit like this. As she got better, things got better too. We decided we’d take turns babysitting and let each other do what we wanted to do most.
My husband participated in lots of sporting activities: ping pong tournaments, beach soccer, and water polo. He could barely walk out of our room and people were calling him by name and greeting him. He really enjoyed taking part in these activities and meeting new people. I think he loved to be somewhat popular, too!
I spent two hours sunbathing and reading at the beach every day. My holiday goals were to relax, to finish a book I was reading, and to come back home with a tan (after 6 months of hibernation!). Thanks to our little system I could do all three!
Something that gave us peace of mind and allowed us to be in touch at all times were the walkie talkies we got. Our cell phones worked in Mexico but roaming chargers were $3/minute of outgoing and incoming calls. We knew this before, so my husband did some research and got a set of good, long range two-way radios. Ours said something crazy like 50km, that is in optimal (lab) conditions, we only wanted them to work within the resort and they did the job.
Motorola Talkabout 2-Way Radio w/ 27 Mile Range (MJ270R), $49.59 at Target
Although our alone time was to relax on our own, we knew that we could reach each other during that time, if we needed to. We used our radios all the time to coordinate and change plans (or ask for forgotten items on trips back to the room!). Definitely something we’ll be bringing along on future trips!
We also wanted to relax, reconnect as a couple, and share some quality adult time together. Initially, I had thought about maybe using the hotel’s babysitting service, in the evening while our little girl slept, so my husband and I could walk to the bar or the lounge and have a quiet drink and chat together.
I had called the hotel and found out who did this job and that they could arrange for us to interview the babysitters beforehand. We discussed it and found out we were not ready to do that (having watched a news piece on the 5th anniversary of Maddie McCann’s disappearance from her hotel room in Portugal did not help). So, we had determined we wouldn’t leave our room in the evenings, at least not together. Couple time wasn’t looking very promising…
After the first night on a third floor room, we asked to be moved to one on the ground floor. These rooms had a balcony with a little patio set and overlooked the pools and the sea. The view wasn’t as beautiful as the rooms in the upper floors but we were able to have our drinks and chat without leaving our little one! Knowing she was right there helped us really relax and enjoy our time together without any remorse.
I would recommend any new parents traveling with their little one to look for a room with a balcony or patio, the closer it is to where people are, the more you’ll feel like you’re “out”, while staying within reach of your baby.
Realistic expectations and careful planning can make the first family holiday you take a true delight, filled with memories you’ll treasure for ever. Happy family travels!
When I was little I used to collect old coins. They were so exotic to me. A family friend used to travel the world and would bring me back handfuls of foreign change from every trip. I loved studying each coin, feeling its weight, and trying to decipher the unfamiliar languages.
The worn ones fascinated me more the most. I remember imagining all the hands it has passed through, and what they had bought with the currency. The coins were like tiny ancient monuments blunted over time.
As I grew older, I developed an affinity for distinct jewelry, especially pieces that incorporated coins.
When I was wandering around a Brooklyn designers market I happened upon Argentine jeweler Enrique Muthuan. His jewelry was chunky and original and I fell in love with his rings and necklaces. Two year later, I stumbled upon his table in Soho and I bought myself one of his Peso rings, which I wear all the time.
At a party I met Jason William Brantley, whose ring caught my eye for the obvious reasons. His grandmother had gifted him the rare Colombian coin and he had a setting made for it in Rome at Massimo Maria Melis Orafo in Roma.
I found this beautiful piece on the finger of a New York woman who had bought the ring at a flea market in Chelsea.
What is The Great GoogaMooga Festival?
On May 19th & 20th, 2012, Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Park will transform into an amusement park of food and drink, The Great GoogaMooga. Approximately 75 food vendors, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers and 20 live music performances will be on hand to help relish some of life’s greatest pleasures—gathering with friends and neighbors to eat, drink, talk, laugh, dance, linger and just … be together.
What chefs & restaurants will be there?
Anthony Bourdain (author and host of No Reservations), David Rockwell (founder & CEO of the Rockwell Group), Tom Colicchio (chef & judge of Top Chef), Garrett Oliver (brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery), Paul Grieco (sommelier/co-owner of Terroir & Hearth), Eddie Huang (chef/owner of Baohaus) and several others.
Baohaus • Big Gay Ice Cream • Blue Ribbon • Brindle Room • Char No. 4 • Co. • Cookin’ With Coolio • Colicchio & Sons • DBGB Kitchen and Bar • Dirty Bird To Go • Do or Dine • Frankies 457 Spuntino • Hill Country Barbecue Market • Joseph Leonard • The Lobster Place • Luke’s Lobster • M. Wells • The Meat Hook
Saturday, May 19
Sunday, May 20
Free general admission tickets for The Great GoogaMooga are all spoken for but you can still purchase an all inclusive “Extra Mooga” tickets are still on sale.
A $250 ticket buys you:
If you go, get the iphone app here with the entire schedule!
Sofia Elgueta provides insights on family travel she learned while visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week of relaxation and family fun with her 18-month old daughter.
TIP 3: Be prepared for (God forbid) a medical emergency.
When we were younger and traveled on our own we didn’t worry so much about medical insurance. After all, we usually went to places where there were people we knew and could help us if need be, we were in good health, and didn’t do any high risk activities. Well, all that changes when you are in charge of a little one. You don’t want your baby to be running a fever or have an really bad upset stomach and you don’t know where to take them, or what to do.
We had been diligent about taking our travel insurance cards with us (which comes as part of our medical insurance plan in Canada) and contact numbers in case of emergency. We weren’t sorry we had done so.
Our daughter felt warm during the flight to Mexico and again when we arrived, but the weather was boiling hot compared to snowy Canada and she seemed happy so we didn’t pay much attention. In the middle of the night she woke up crying and it was clear she was running a fever. I had packed baby Advil but no thermometer.
We managed caring for her through the night with cold face cloths and Advil and called our medical insurance company first thing in the morning. They told us they could contact an English speaking doctor in our area or we could simply go to any doctor we chose, pay upfront and be reimbursed on our return. Since Spanish is our native language, we went with this easier method.
My husband asked the hotel receptionist for good hospitals or clinics in the area and found out there were two very close. He then asked a couple of bell boys, housekeeping staff and the concierge: “If you had to take your child to a doctor, where would you go? And your mother-in-law?” He got some laughs and very helpful advice and went on a recon mission to the hospital, just a block away across the street. He came back quite pleased.
We took the baby to San Javier hospital. We walked into an elegantly decorated reception area and were greeted by a smiling, bilingual nurse. Our little one was seen by a general practitioner ten minutes after; and ten minutes after that, a pediatrician saw her too. Being used to the Canadian health system and public hospitals where you can expect to wait two to six hours to see a doctor (if you’re not dying). We loved this private system. It was the best sixty dollars we have ever spent.
The pediatrician gave us his card with his phone numbers and asked us to contact him if symptoms changed or we were worried for any reason. Oh, and did I mention, this was a Sunday on a long weekend in Mexico? We couldn’t have been luckier to have this hospital so close!
Thankfully she had nothing serious, just another “bug” she picked up along the way, but I cannot stress the peace of mind we received by having a professional say this and explain how to look after her. Not having had a doctor see her and assure us she’d be fine in a few days would have definitely ruined our holidays and made us feel like the worst parents in the world.
If it had been one of us, we wouldn’t have worried much, but when it’s a small child, you want to make extra sure it is nothing serious. We were glad we had were prepared for this possibility and got our travel insurance in order before we left home.
Sofia Elgueta provides insights on family travel she learned while visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week of relaxation and family fun with her 18-month old daughter.
TIP 2. Pack wisely but don’t expect to travel light with a toddler.
When we’re going away I start planning what our little one will need several days in advance. I usually categorize things: clothes, accessories –I have a girl!- diapers and changing needs, toys and books, feeding supplies, medications. A couple of days before the trip, I start putting things together, usually clothes and changing needs go first because I won’t need to use those items. We always pack extra pacifiers, they get dropped on the floor all the time and we always manage to lose a couple. I pack a lunch bag with water, a couple of snacks and a couple of bibs for the trip. Our little one eats everything now but she’s picky sometimes so I always have something that I know she’ll be glad to snack on (Cheerios are a great pick).
Think about the weather where you’ll go and pack what you need for it. For example, we bought an all natural mosquito repellent (ALL THINGS jillt ,TAKE A HIKE )hat I wasn’t sure I’d find in Mexico if we needed it… I knew I wasn’t going to be okay with putting chemicals on my baby’s skin so I packed it, just in case. Same thing with her sunblock. I also packed baby Advil, just in case – as it turned out, it was a life saver on the first night!
As to toys, pack a carry on little backpack for your toddler. Put in small toys and books your baby likes a lot. A great idea is one of those magnetic drawing boards. Your little one can scribble away and have fun without making a mess. Finger puppets are good, too. Avoid anything that’s bound to make a mess (i.e. no playdough) or too much noise, as you don’t want the other passengers to hate you. If your baby has a security object, a blanket or special stuffed animal, don’t forget to put it in his/her carry on little bag! They love having their own backpack and know all their special things are there. I think this makes babies feel more secure in a big plane full of strange people!
By all means take a stroller with you. We have a big “all terrain” one that works great when you go for long walks. It’s very good but bulky and heavy. For this trip, I think we should have got an umbrella type of stroller. Choose one with a canopy or sunshade. Umbrella strollers aren’t as sturdy or fancy as other models, but they fold small and are very light -something you’ll be extremely grateful for when you have to take them up and down stairs in a country where ramps aren’t as common as in Canada or the States!
My husband and I have never been light packers but we’ve got much better with time. My philosophy for deciding whether I pack an item or leave it at home is: will I really really miss it if I don’t have it, so much it’d ruin the moment and/or could I purchase it there? In most cases for us the answers are yes or no. For our little one, usually the answers are “quite possibly” and “I don’t know”, so we pack lots of things.
Sofia Elgueta provides insights on family travel she learned while visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week of relaxation and family fun with her 18-month old daughter.
TIP 1. Plan your trip with your baby’s needs as a first priority.
When planning your trip consider destinations and packages that fit what you can do as a new family with a young toddler.
If at all possible, choose destinations that you can get to with a direct flight! When traveling to our home countries in South America from our current city in Canada, we have no choice but to change planes at least three times. We’ve done this twice and, as our baby has grown older, more mobile, and a lot more aware of her surroundings, we’ve learned to appreciate a direct flight. We picked Puerto Vallarta over other attractive packages and destinations simply because of this.
Choose a hotel or a package that is baby/child friendly. Before buying our holiday package I called the hotel and found out if they had several baby cribs available (so we wouldn’t need to take our playpen). I also asked about the kids activities (the kids club is for children 4+), whether they had a babysitting service (which we weren’t brave enough to use), and how the pools were. I found out there was a nice separate baby pool with a large wading area, our baby loved it! We also checked TripAdvisor for reviews on the hotel.
Don’t get tempted by fancy facilities you will not be able to enjoy. You’re not likely to be able to enjoy the three adult only pools or a hotel that offers free zip-lining or paragliding, so don’t spend a couple of hundred dollars extra on amenities you won’t get to use!
Your holiday package may not be what you would have chosen if you were traveling alone, but, for a couple of years, your baby’s needs will have to come first. Seeing your little one shriek with joy as he/she plays in the warm water and points at animals he/she’s never seen before in amazement is well worth any sacrifice on your part!
*Photo Courtesy of OCCIDENTAL GRAND NUEVO VALLARTA
In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought it was an appropriate time for a blog series on family travel.
By Sofia Elgueta
We have not had a true holiday for a couple of years. We have been “back home” to Argentina and Chile a couple of times but there is always so much visiting and social engagements involved we usually come back happy but a lot more tired than when we left. So we decided to head to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a week of relaxation and family fun with our 18-month old little girl.
The last time we visited to Mexico, we went to the Mayan Riviera for our honeymoon and enjoyed the beach, the food and drinks, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, and the fun nightlife; we even rented a car and went to all the historic sites.
We expected things to be different now and they were, very. We were prepared for some things and learned how to be better prepared for our next trip-–because there will be more family trips soon.
So here starts a mini series with tips for new parents traveling with young toddlers. I hope they help the moms and dads who are juggling work, housework and parenting responsibilities and need a break to be bold and head to some exciting destination with their little ones for a relaxing and fun holiday.
I am frugal by nature, but when it comes to my mother, I am willing to splurge on her big day of appreciation. New York’s luxury hotels know what mother’s like, and will serve it to her on a sliver platter.
Shopping for charity, check. Afternoon Tea, check. Spa, check. Shopping for pure indulgence, check. Brunch, check. Stroll in Central Park, check.
Truly, what more could a mother ask for?
*THE PIERRE, A TAJ HOTEL, NEW YORK: Shopping & Afternoon Tea in Two E/Bar Lounge
*MANDARIN ORIENTAL NEW YORK & BARNEY’S: Mother-Daughter Spa Getaway. The social media contest is closed, but the idea is stellar!
*FOUR SEASONS NEW YORK: Brunch in The Garden
*CENTRAL PARK: A stroll down Literary Walk through The Mall.
