10 Tips for unoriginal (no offense) men looking for a romantic getaway idea

Today I was flipping through the travel section of the Washington post and noticed some "getaway fares" for last minute trip ideas. One struck me as interesting, not because the deal was so great but because of the destination itself. It was a getaway to Amelia Island off the Florida coast.
Amelia Island, sweet name - sounded like an ideal getaway. Kind of romantic, even.
Oh!
Now, I remembered why Amelia Island sounded so familiar to me.
I was living with a man years ago, and our relationship was pretty serious. I remember asking him one day, if we could go anywhere for a little weekend reprieve, where would he choose. He never looked up from his computer, as he answered, "Amelia Island. I went there with my ex-wife once and it was one of the best trips I've ever had. Have you ever been?"
Just as casually as if I had said, "Could you touch me here, my first boyfriend used to do that, and I found it quite pleasurable."
Men, don't do this. Do not ever suggest that your current love interest travel with you to a destination that you have shared romantically with another woman. If you do not understand why, I cannot explain this to you. You really need to revert to, "How to Date 101", but let's say, you will likely be single soon again and not have to worry about it.
This is not only terrifyingly morose, but just plain tacky. It has occurred to me that some men (this one fell into this category) are not trying to be hurtful, but are simply unoriginal. It has never occurred to them to do anything other than what they have done before. It was not their idea then, nor do they have an original idea of their own, so they fall back on old stand-by's. What worked then...
I have seen this in dating scenarios. We all know guys that take women on the same first date over and over again, because it worked once. This is not the same. By the time you are traveling together, you have built a  relationship of some sort. This is not a meet-and-greet, this is a lifetime/relationship, memory building event. Make it original.
Now, the how-to.
For those men (or women) who have no idea how to plan something, or come up with a fresh romantic idea let me give you a few pointers.
1) Pick up the weekend newspaper, open it to the travel section and read. I know, it's crazy.
2) Turn the tele from ESPN to the Travel network and wait for something interesting (to you) to pop up.
3) Surf the web. There are many travel resources. Every travel channel and magazine has a web presence. Use them.
4) Spin a globe and put your finger on a location. I mean if we are reaching, why not give 100%. Be as random as random can be and possibly have the perception of looking "interesting" or "adventurous".
5) Call someone who's been somewhere. This one may be hard, but if you are that guy that has only been one place with one girl, there has to be someone in your network who is that same guy, but hopefully went to a different place, with a different girl.
6) Ask a parent, or an aunt, or a cousin. Someone in your family must have a special place they have been to, or at least heard about in the last decade.
7) Think about the foods you like to eat. Where do they come from? Is this someplace you could visit with a loved one and enjoy?
8) Start with your interests. Are you a skier? Do you need a little sand on your ideal vacation? Always wanted to learn how to dive? These are great places to start thinking about where you want to go.
9) Look at your pet in the eyes for a curiously long time, until something interesting comes to you. It works. Especially if you have fish.
10) Ask a travel professional. The right person will dig long enough and deep enough to get the answers needed to find a good location. And hiring a third party always gives you someone to blame when you hate it. Hopefully, that will not be the case.

Highlighting Kona (Big Island)

Your level of comfort at your price point.

The one thing I found out about the big island was that one you arrived there was a price point for every pocket book.

We chose a mid-range hotel ($150-250usd per night) on the west side. The HiltonWaikoloa offered a comfortable room with all the amenities of every hi-end hotel. It was a bargain in fact, with the level of service that Hilton is known for. Numerous restaurants and bars on site provided an environment which allowed couples and families alike to feel their every need was being met and if they chose to stay on the resort grounds their entire stay, they could do this without feeling like they were missing anything. Water activities, boat rides, lava rock trails, golf - anything you want to do is provided on site. Even swimming with dolphins and turtles, surrounded by waterfalls.

There are cheaper hotels ($99-$149usd per night); active, downtown hotels in the mainstream of all the city buzz. Hotels such as the Kona Seaside Hotel and Uncle Billy's Kona Bay Hotel provide inexpensive options. Great for students, cruise ship one-nighters, and couples on a budget. For more conservative backpackers and/or students on a tight budget there were a few hostels which we found in a ten mile range of downtown Kailua-kona in the price range of $22 usd.. 

There were also hi-end options (over $250usd per night) such as the Four Seasons and the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Golf Resort which offered luxury accommodations and the high price tag that one is accustomed to when staying in residences that provide such offerings.

The one thing all these retreats have in common is the location – on a beautiful island with all the sweet offerings that Hawaii gives to everyone, on any budget.

The restaurants – all fantastic, whether a street-stand, or a surf-side restaurant which offers seafood and sunsets for a small pittance.

All of this is available to everyone who crosses the Pacific and wants it.

Contact me directly at SmartCreativeConcepts@gmail.com for info or questions.

Ohana means Family!!

“Ohana” means family, and that is what you will find through and through on the Hawaiian Islands. I was fortunate enough to visit the big island this Hawaiian go-round, and I was reminded time and time again how tight knit families are here, and how intertwined we are as a people, and how connected to the earth we all are.

The ocean is vast. The people are kind spirited. Hawaii is the heart of love, and we are lucky as Americans to be tied to a little piece of it and call it home. Internationally, Hawaii is sought out by every nation as a vacation retreat. Hawaii represents calm and serenity – a safety zone to reconnect with the universe itself… an opportunity to find love within and without. Meditate – no matter what that means to you.

The big island is massive compared to all the islands of Hawaii. Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Lanai – each holds its own mystique. The big island has a little bit of each. Every season exists on some part of the island at any given part of the day; snow, sun, rain, tropics, mountains, lava crusted roads; each entity holds a piece of Hawaii and shines bright on the big island.

But family means the same thing on every island, even the mainland. Family means we are connected. Family means safety and hearth of home, good food, and celebration.

Family celebrates everything we stand for in our endeavors even while on vacation.

The big island offers families a family value, or to singles, the concept of connecting with something greater – the surf, the sun and perhaps another bikini-clad single, who just might also be yearning for the same base needs of earth, and perhaps someone to share them with.

Kona itself offers everything you could want to do while on vacation separating itself from the other islands by that fact alone. You can golf, hike, bike, surf, dive, visit volcanoes, swim with dolphins and turtles, dine at the most fantastic restaurants, sail, fish, even ski. What do you want to do?

Kona has it, and it offers it in a casual and low key package.

Public beaches, churches, local markets, a thriving tourist downtown area, water sports companies offering every ocean fun time, snorkeling, local eateries…you name it. The big island is known for being active and not over congested like some of the more populated islands, and not over-serene like some of the more mellow islands. The big island is for big spirits – active and engaged with life! Fun-spirited, and alive.



OH! and the most beautiful sunsets ever!

TSA strikes again, with a blind view of the aircraft interior

After reading numerous passionate articles about the lifting of the knife ban for aircraft security, allowing potential weapons on planes, the real issues have finally come to light.

Responses in USA Today, well represent both sides of the arguement, and now hold a flashlight on the primary issue.
People are saying that the flight deck is now safe, so why do we need safety in the cabin? People are acknowledging that terrorists are secured from having access to the cockpit, even if they did have a knife. Basically, airplanes can no longer be used as a weapon if terrorists cannot acces the flight deck.
The door is locked. The door is bulletproof. The threat is gone.

So why have TSA at all? If the activity in the cabin is no longer an issue or threat, why challenge passengers at all?

The crew members in the cabin are dealing with all sorts of activities - not just potential terrorist action. We deal with drunks, mental illness, potential terrorism, medical emergencies, etc etc etc.
Terrorism was the catalyst to the issue of having weapons, or potential weapons, on planes, but the reality is, the majority of problems that arise, and that would be accelerated by having knives, and other potential weapons, are the everyday issues that are not addressed or acknowledged by TSA or management of most airlines. A veteran American Airlines Flight Attendant documented nearly 1200 instances of customer misconduct on American Airlines alone last year (Laura Glading, USA Today Monday March 11, 2013).

These are the issues. These are the problems. Passenger misconduct is a real, everyday issue. Al Quaeda is hardly worried about getting a tiny knife on board the plane. Terrorism will always be in the forefront of all flight crews security processes, but our daily concerns are incidents that occur on a daily basis.
The security of flight crews needs to be addressed as seriously as the threat of the flight deck. Are our lives not as valuable? Are our concerns not as important? Is it OK to let belligerent passengers get onboard any aircraft with a potential weapon because they have not been identified as an international terrorist? I don't think so.

American
Mom
Flight Attendant
(in that order)
S.L.S.

It's February!

The year is already at a fast pace, and what willI do to capture it? Any of it? I have noticed the speed at which the past 17 years has whizzed by, and now I pay attention to holding on to moments, and enjoying every minute I can slow down long enough to appreciate.
This year I have decided, instead of remembering 2013 by a marathon, or a baby, or a tattoo, or a travel experience (as these events. while still important, do not define a year for me anymore), that I will keep a photo journal. Every day for 365 days - 2013, how I remember it. Even the little things are memorable.
Each date has an action, a memory, part of my life that was captured in one moment, that day.
365 Day Project 2013

February...already.

Basic accountibility

I go on tangents about accountability and manners, and issues I see as those that distinguish between adults and children. Maturity comes with it responsibility.
Almost two years ago, I got into a fender bender in the parking lot of my daughter's high school. I waited for almost a half an hour for the owner of the vehicle, then I put a note on the car with my contact information, letting the owner of the dinged vehicle that I hit it, and wanted to be responsible for the damage.
When the owner called, he said, he was shocked, not only that I idnetified my self, but moreso, that I simply wanted to apologize.
I apologized to him for the inconvenience, for hitting his car and for the damage I did. I then claimed financial responsibility and he was thankful.
This past week, I had another vehicular incident, where the other driver was responsible, the police confirmed this in their report, and not once did she simply apologize.
I am sorry I ventured into oncoming traffic. I am sorry I caused a traffic collision. I am sorry about your car. I am sorry.  
Not only did she not apologize, but when retelling her version of the story, her response was, "yes, I could not see her coming in the oncoming traffic but once in the center of the street, she was coming fast". She actually tried to toss blame at me instead of taking responsibility for the fact that she thought she could beat traffic.
Also, after contacting her insurance company I have been given the runaround, told to be patient, again with no acknowledgement or apologies for my inconvenience, my vehicle or my life which has been inconvenienced immensely. Not only my life, but the life of my family. How about the work I missed due to this accident? Nothing.
Instances like this, although a reminder of where my value system lies, is also a shock as to how inconsiderate and selfish most people who are wandering the universe constantly feeling entitled yet, with no regard to the lives they affect.
We as a nation, and a world, in effect have stopped teaching our youth how to be responsible and take accountability for the results of their actions. We have grown into a culture of advantage-takers. Irreverent, entitled leeches with no moral compass, content with letting others take the fall, and pick up the tab.
Everybody's trying to get over.
...awesome

Power vs the Penis

Following the scandal of Petraeus, which is now being linked to CIA leaks and the accountability for the Benghazi incident, it has occurred to me how trite it is to follow a trail of bullshit and gossip as "grownups" act out a sophomoric stereotype.

Similar to an episode of Gossip Girl, or any day in any given high school, Johnny slept with Janie, who threated Tammy, who is the bff of Johnny, but is sleeping with Aaron, who is the Capt of the football team. They all have significant others (and families) who are impetuously disregarded  in this scenario. Like a high school love triangle, these professional leaders have reduced our government, and their careers to a joke.
Text messages, emails, late night phone calls.
Whores and the men who pursue them.
Ass-Clowns and the girls who love them.
How shall we spin this?

The people running this country, and responsible for the safety and military action as such, are expected to  have more common sense, and value for their profession and our country, not to mention their families. This submission to human nature is not unexpected, nor is it unnatural. The events which followed are the insults to the American citizen, and show the disregard for the American people, which deem the government as incapable of maintaining security for our State, as they are of keeping their dicks in their pants.
There is a time and a place for everything.
High school was the time and place for this rancid, immature behavior.

Now, what I had to stop and acknowledge was the fact that men in positions of power constantly get caught with their pants down. Why? because women love men who appear to be powerful.
Wife or not. "State at risk", or not.
Historically, women want to taste that power, feel like they have seduced the power of man. Look at the premise of Sampson and Delilah, or the Trojan War. We are doomed to repeat this story over and over because men will always be tempted by Delilah and lose their power.
Women have been used to acquiesce control, and whether that means enticing someone unattainable, or running the home of a powerful man from the back room, women are well versed in where their talents lie and what it takes to allow a man to be in control while still maintaining control.
Chris Rock once said, there is nothing better than pussy, except new pussy. When incidents like this get documented, and powerful men get caught, it seems textbook:
Men appear to be incapable of resisting "new pussy".
And, no doubt, as soon as the newness wears off, it is simply the same punani it was before you needed to confirm it wasn't any different. Or maybe that is the issue. I overheard a bartender telling a  trainee, "well, of course it was different, it's all different." But, in reality it is not the strange that attracted you in the first place - it was the concept of conquering.
Politicians have become rock stars. We expect singers to get ass. That's part of the reuirement for being a rock star...panties. But when did the leaders of the free world get so hot? Oh, Clinton, that's right. The blow job heard round the world, in conjunction with the worldwide spread and access of the internet.

The men that have an ego  large enough to think they can run a country rarely have the moral value (or time) it takes to be committed to that task as well as keep their personal promises. More often than not, you have to give up playing nice if you want to be in control of anything capitalistically valuable. The hours and hours of time you commit to an office cannot be compensated for at home. Relationships take time, and so does building an empire - it is rare that both can be done simultaneously.

photo courtesy AP, USA Today

I do believe that the struggle of man is of the basest sense: power vs. the penis. More often than not, the penis wins. Food water sex = needs of man. Power is contrived. A lion is not only the king, he gets all the girls too.