Mother's Day Special Offer

Because we love seeing moms and daughters on our trips, because some of my best adventures have been with my mom, and because Mother's Day presents should be about the bonds between moms and daughters, Adventures in Good Company is offering $100 off per person when any mother and adult daughter (18 and over) sign up for a trip together by MotherÕs Day, May 9. Just mention that you are signing up together.

Another option: you can't coordinate your trip plans but you have a mom who needs to get out and try new things or a daughter who really deserves a break. For $50, you can buy a gift certificate worth $150 for any trip in 2010 (sorry, you can't use it for yourself). You get to look generous (which we know you are), your mom or daughter gets a nudge to get out, and everyone wins.

More Ways to Get Discounts

We know that anything that saves money these days is a good thing! So we want to make sure everyone knows that these discounts are available:
1) Be among the first 5 to sign up for any trip, and get a 5% discount - but you have to sign up at least 90 days in advance. While the first 5 spaces have been taken on many trips, we still have discounted spaces on many of our July trips, including Canadian Rockies Hiking Holiday, Paddling the Alton Lake Loop, Hut to Hut on the Appalachian Trail, and Hoofin It in the Grand Tetons.

2) Take a second trip within 180 days of your first trip and get 10% off (domestic trips only).

3) Sign up for our Discount Alerts list. About 3 - 5 times a year someone cancels within 8 weeks of their trip and we discount the trip significantly to fill the space. If you didn't sign up when you started getting the newsletter, you can do it now by clicking here.

More airline tips

Three more tips to help you keep your sanity when dealing with airlines! This first tip is absolutely brilliant and was sent in by Anne B in California after the last newsletter.

1) "I was in Baltimore Thursday and was pretty sure that I would wake up Friday morning to at least high winds if not major snow. As you probably know (unless you were someplace warm), Philly and northward got the snow, but Southwest Airlines cancelled all their flights Friday which I found out from the website. When I called to reschedule, the hold time was "1 hour and 49 minutes". So I hung up, looked on the website, called the Spanish number and when it said "habla Englis, oprima numero uno" I pressed 1 and instantly was connected to an agent who re-booked me on a Saturday flight. Seems the spanish speaking reservation agents are all bilingual."

2) If they change your flight schedule, you don't have to take the alternative itinerary they offer you. Call them up and find out what your options are. If none of them work for you (and the itinerary has been changed significantly), you can cancel and get all your money back.

3) If you're at the airport and your flight is canceled and they tell you to get in line to talk to the agent who will rebook you, by all means get in line. But if you're not near the front, whip out your cellphone and call the airline reservations line and see if you can rebook over the phone. Otherwise you may be in line for hours and all the good options gone by the time you get there.

Tell us where to go

There are so many international destinations we want to either return to or go to for the first time in 2011, and we need your help to narrow it down. We're not asking for your "bucket list" - we want to know destinations you're seriously considering. If you're willing to take a minute (really, its that simple), please click here.

Survey and Facebook winners

We received over 600 surveys!! Thanks to all of you who gave us the benefit of your thoughts. And the winners of a random drawing were:
Pat G, Chicago, IL ($250 voucher)
Mary W, Kaleva MI ($100 voucher)
AmyVZ, Beacon, NY ($100 voucher)
Amy W, Frederick, MD ($100 voucher)
Veronica K, Iowa City, IA ($100 voucher)
Karen J, Westminster, CO ($100 voucher)
Donna B, Durham, NC($50 voucher)
Shannon C, CA ($50 voucher)
Lynne P, Rehoboth, MA ($50 voucher)
Suzanne F., Chestertown, MD ($50 voucher)
Kathy E, Rochester, NY ($50 voucher)
Pat K, Severna Park, MD ($50 voucher)
Lauren A., Scottsdale AZ ($50 voucher)
Robin H, Charlotte, NC($50 voucher)
Myrna M, Kemptville, ON ($50 voucher)

The Facebook contest winner was Jennifer D, Santa Fe. Great picture, Jennifer, thanks!

What is an adventure vacation?

To distinguish between the many different types of trips we offer, we have started calling one category "Adventure vacations". On these trips you stay in the same accomodation the entire time. During the trip you may go different places and/or do different activities (e.g. you might hike one day, kayak the next), but every evening you're back in the same bed.

The major attractions of these trips are:
1)You only unpack once;

2)You always have the option to stay back and just take a day off and often there may be optional activities you can choose;

3) Because of 1 and 2, they tend to be more relaxingthey tend to be more relaxing, and they are ideal for women who come with someone who has different ideas about how active they want to be.

The limitations: if you're an avid hiker or backpacker or paddler, you won't get enough. And you won't see as much of the larger area. So as always, it all depends on what kind of vacation appeals to you.

Some of our upcoming adventure vacations include: Magical Maine, Exploring the Black Hills, and Living the Cowgirl Life.

Join us for a webinar

In our survey we asked if people were interested in webinars, or web-based interactive meetings where the presenter can present slides and participants can ask questions. It's sort of the electronic equivalent of my giving a slideshow at the local library, except you're scattered all over the place. A number of people expressed interest so we thought we would give it a try.

The first webinar is a general one: "Is Adventure Travel Right for You?". We'll show lots of pictures, talk about what adventure travel is and isn't, and suggest some questions to ask yourself about whether its a good fit for you, and if so, whether we are the right company for you to go with. We will offer it either April 28 or 29 at 8pm EST.

The second webinar is "Are you ready to climb Kilimanjaro?" We'll talk about what its like, what kind of conditioning you need, the high and low points, and give you lots of opportunities to ask questions. We will offer this either May 3 or 5.

If you are interested in either, please send an email to info@goodadventure.com with the subject line "Webinar:Name of Webinar), and let us know which dates work best for you. We are doing this on a trial basis and are limited to 15 participants for each, so please don't sign up unless you think there is a 90% chance you'll attend (I often sign up for webinars and then find myself too busy!). We will then send you detailed instructions on what you need to do to join us.

Self renewal

No matter what your religious beliefs or lack thereof, the earth tells us that this is the time for self-renewal. About 20 years ago I came across an article by John Gardner about self-renewal that I found very moving. I reread it every spring. I've posted a link to it before but for those of you who haven't read it, you can download a .pdf version by clicking here.

Sorry this newsletter got so long! I even cut out a couple of items. Happy Spring- from Marian and all the guides at Adventures in Good Company