Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
Do you love the color, songs, and drama of Indian cinema? Lewis & Clark College in Portland will be presenting 13 Bollywood films from January 18 – April 25. The subtitled films will be shown at 6:00 PM on Wednesdays in Miller Hall 102. They are free and open to the public. Here is the schedule:
January 18: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
January 25: Lagaan
February 1: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
February 8: Zanjeer
February 15: Dil To Pagal Hai
February 21: Satyam Shivam Sundaram
February 29: Mother India
March 7: Khalnayak
March 14: Roja
March 21: Hum Aapke Hain Kaun…!
April 11: Devdas
April 18: Masala
April 25: Kal Ho Naa Ho
For more information, please visit Bollywood at Lewis and Clark.
In the past few months, Sodha Travel has coordinated several trips to India for families adopting children. One of our clients, Kristy Hall, has been kind enough to share her experiences with us and also has a blog that highlights her journey of international adoption: Overheard in the Hallway – Random thoughts on a family completed by international adoption.
Kristy meeting her new son, Elijah Vijesh
Kristy and her husband recently adopted a three-year-old boy from Kerala, Elijah Vijesh. As a parent, I have appreciated the opportunity to learn about the delicate process of creating a blended family. Kristy is very candid with her experiences and I encourage you to read her journey of adoption.
I wish much happiness to Elijah Vijesh and all the children in their new homes!
We are very excited to be co-presenting a travel photography workshop with Jeff Hinds Photography!
Are you interested in developing your travel photography skills or enhancing your individual photographic objectives?
Join Sodha Travel and Jeff Hinds Photography for a workshop geared toward all levels of photographers. Travel photography is more than taking a great snapshot of cultural and historical wonders. It is also about improving visual awareness and having a greater appreciation of your surroundings. Jeff will help participants learn more about their cameras and settings, demonstrate how to “see the world through the lens” and use those angles to develop individual photography skills.
Date: June 12th – 10am – 1pm
Location: Downtown Portland
Cost: $115
Early Booking Discount: Register by May 13th and save $20 per participant!
To register: Contact me (Allison) directly at 503.718.7839 or allison@sodhatravel.com.
Space is limited, so register today! We look forward to seeing you!
About Jeff Hinds: Jeff is a professional photographer and part-time instructor at Mt. Hood Community College for the Integrated Media and Professional Photography programs. He has also been a team photographer for the Portland Trail Blazers for ten seasons, concentrating in sponsorship and promotion photography. His skills include all aspects of lighting, from ambient indoor and outdoor to high-powered arena strobes for fast action indoor sports photography. Visit Jeff Hinds Photography to learn more and view his portfolios.
We have been quite surprised by the inflated prices of international airline tickets in 2011. And with higher fuel costs, the prices will continue to rise. In the past four months, oil has risen over 25% and airlines have raised fares as many as eight times.
Unfortunately, the airlines have also been quietly raising their baggage fees. As travelers become more savvy, many carriers respond with costly alternatives. One example: charging passengers for priority boarding, guaranteeing space in the overhead bins for carry-on bags. Other airlines are drastically increasing their fees on overweight bags. United now charges $400 for any bag weighing between 71 and 90 pounds. I was shocked to learn that U.S. airlines made $2.57 billion in baggage fees in the first nine months of 2010.
However, there is still hope. Many international-based airlines still allow passengers two checked bags (up to fifty pounds each) for no charge on most routes. And as we have seen, this is a strong deciding factor when travelers are selecting an airline. As a mom to a toddler, I also research which airlines allow me to check a stroller and car seat for no charge. Some experts are also predicting that airlines will start to charge for infants on domestic flights, as they do on international segments.
If you are concerned about baggage fees, please ask your agent or airline representative at the time of booking. I also recommend getting the policy in writing from the airline directly, or printing it from the website on the date your ticket is purchased.
For those who love to spread their wings and explore the world – or even hop from one destination to the next – be sure to check out Travelhoppers. Recently launched, Travelhoppers is a travel site that allows consumers to research, connect, and discover. I am also personally excited to be a featured contributor in the Travelhoppers community.
Here is an excerpt from the official Travelhoppers press release:
Travelhoppers is a travel site dedicated to the proposition that it’s all about value. The company provides consumers with free access to the largest, frequently updated repository of travel companies’ brochures, real travel deals, and travel planning resources on the Internet. All via one site, Travelhoppers brings travelers unabridged information directly from 3000+ tour operators, packagers, cruise lines, destinations and other travel suppliers; as well as insight from travel industry veterans, first-hand knowledge from travel writers and feedback from other consumers; and a means to connect with travel specialists for assistance with travel planning.
“Travelhoppers presents travelers with resources for planning their trips that they typically would not find online – and certainly not in one place,” says founder Richard Earls. “It’s the perfect place to research where you want to vacation and find the right information and provider for your desired trip – from well-known brands to smaller suppliers and niche-focused operators, we present a comprehensive spectrum of companies, information, and real travel deals not hook’em and book’em ads seen rampant across the Internet.”
Owned and operated by travel professionals, Travelhoppers is backed by decades in travel with various sectors of the industry represented. “When a prospective traveler says they want ‘the best travel deal’ – that doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest,” explains Earls. “We’ve all heard the stories of how many travelers have booked a cut-rate package simply to find that the accommodations are below the standards they were expecting, or the location was far from the city’s main attractions… These are NOT travel deals; they are simply vacation spoilers that end up costing travelers more than money. At Travelhoppers, our focus is to provide travelers with the values they seek. We want to provide a forum for travelers to educate themselves.”
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Hop on over and check out this fantastic new site, and also check out my most recent Travelhoppers article, India: Beyond the Taj Mahal.