The Best Summer Travel Tips

Recently, Esti from Primetime Parenting and I went out to the Travel & Lifestyle Event at the Hilton Short Hills, hosted by Techlicious and Traveling Mom. Hosted by Kim Orlando, we met sponsors Henri Bendel, Ann Taylor, the Walking Company, got our makeup done, saw a demo by the head chef, got some fun swag, and enjoyed some delicious food and company. The Best Summer Travel Tips

First off, the Hilton Short Hills, in Short Hills, New Jersey was gorgeous.

My brother lives in Maplewood, so I’ve been out in that direction – but this was my first time at the Hilton Short Hills and I was seriously impressed.

The rooms were a good size and had spotless bathrooms, the spa and pool area were amazing (I had a tour) and the food we had was top notch.

It’s a great location for a wedding or a bar mitzvah or a staycation with the family. We spoke to the catering manager and she told us that the hotel prefers to only have one event at a time so they can really concentrate on getting all the details right.

The fabulous Kim Orlando of Traveling Mom gave us some seriously smart information.

2017 Summer Travel Trends

The hottest destination is Lagos, Portugal
Brewery/Distillery Hopping
Responsible Travel
Big Spends for holiday weekends
Fewer International Travelers in US
Bleisure
Food Tourism
Large Groups
*sources are Luxury Retreats, Forbes, Lodging Magazine, Vacatia

2017 Hotspots According to Google Search

Reykajavik
Havana
Toronto
Mexico City
Tokyo

Good Travel Apps & Sites

Hilton Honors
ShipSticks
Luggage Free
Jetsetter
Get My Boat
Soothe (massage on demand, how cool)

Online Travel Shopping Trends-In any given month, over 100 million of YouTube’s unique visitors are travelers. -3 out of 5 travels who watch video use it to narrow down their brand, destination, or activity choices-Video watch time on mobile devices has grown by over 65% year over year*Think Google Stats

Some traveling mom writers offered their best hacks.

Use Chase Sapphire Reserve over AMEX Platinum
— Dia Adams, Travel Hack TMOM

Call chain hotels about rewards challenges or matches to quickly reach top tier status.
— Richard Kerr, TravelingDad @ThePointsJock

While we were listening to Kim, we enjoyed some delicious bites.

We met some great sponsors. I loved the classy looks at Ann Taylor.

I loved all the bags and luggage from Henri Bendel that Crystal showed us. I am saving up for a birthday gift for myself.

I have bad feet, so I was excited to chat with The Walking Company. They offer everything from pretty sandals to cute sneakers that are so much better for your feet.