Translate menus, informational signage and more from a foreign language
Let me tell you about the Google Translate app (on both ios and Android) - what an amazing tool to assist with language barriers on menus, signage or any text in a foreign language. While not perfect (the word champignon translated to fungus - which a mushroom really is anyways), it is a great feature to help bridge the language divide and make communications a few steps a little easier.
download the app to your phone before you leave- choose the language (example, from French to English)
- click the camera icon and use it to interpret menus and printed materials.
- copy and paste text into the text box for an interpretation
- explore it's other features like voice and conversations.
- click the arrows to reverse English to French to translate how to convert an english word to french.
- Download Google Translate on the Apple App Store
- Download Google Translate on the Android Google Play Store
We recently discovered and used the Google Translate app on a recent trip to France and while we used it mostly on restaurant menus and informational signage at attractions, it really did help guide us through a few confusing spots.
A free app available for your mobile device, we've now added this to our essentials toolkit while traveling [GoGirlfriend Recommended]!
~ GG Staff
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Airport Hotels - Overnight Before a Vacation
It never fails that packaged holiday getaway departs at some crazy early hour in the morning! And nobody really lives close enough to the airport, right?
Here are 4 benefits to grabbing a hotel on the strip near the airport to make it a winning solution:
Stress reduction of not having to battle a morning commute, a winters snowstorm or finding parking super early.- Relaxation by far when a shuttle picks you up from your hotel and drops you off right at the departure gates.
- Often the hotels near the airport offer deals that include 7-10 days of complimentary parking – that’s easily a $100+ savings compared to airport or ParknFly parking – and a reverse shuttle to take you back to the hotel where you’ve left you vehicle.
- Your travel agent will often have special rates at partner hotels to get you a reduced rate … and still get the perks of the special offers.
These tips also encourage a great dinner the night before, with a glass of sumptuous red wine and an excellent sleep … even before your vacation is scheduled to begin!
~ GG Staff
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Resort Spas offer more than massages and body treatments
Your resort (or substitute cruise ship or hotel) most often will have a spa on site.
While most people associate a spa with massages, facials and body treatments designed to relax, detoxify and turn you into a noodle, 
they also offer simpler services like manicures, pedicures … and hair salons.
Consider that night that you’ve booked the specialty restaurant for the romantic Italian dinner. You know the wine will be divine, the lighting will be relaxed and the ambiance will be romantic. You have that classic “little black dress” you bought just for such a night, why not make a spa booking for the afternoon and spend an hour getting your hair and nails done?
Don’t you think the pampering and the little added touches will add those little nuances to help frame the night and celebrate you as the center of attention? We know it will!
~ GG Staff
Have a travel tip to share with your GoGirlfriends? Send us your quick tips, tricks and strategies and we'll publish them here. Email us or connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. Let's continue the conversation!
Accessible rooms on a cruise ship are HUGE
If you are traveling with older parents or with a family member who has some mobility challenges, that little extra space comes in handy in the room and bathroom. Especially on a cruise ship where the rooms are super tiny to begin with, this makes a huge difference.
On a recent cruise with our family and my parents, dad needed a motorized scooter to get around after some knee surgery [Note: we pre-booked the motorized scooter to be ready in his stateroom as he arrived powered and good to go]. We asked about and received one of their accessible rooms. It was massive – at least double our upper deck staterooms with a wider door to get the wheelchair/scooter in and out, the room was massive with an extra couch and the bathroom had handles and supports that helped without a lip on a triple-sized walk-in shower (compared to standard cruise shower). We were jealous! Now, the room was on Deck 3 where the embarkation and debarkation happened for easier on and off access – so no balcony option. But for the added space and compfort the room offered, mom and dad were very happy.
Those extra amenities offered in the super-large accessible rooms made getting around the room easier and safer.
~ GG Staff
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Portable Chargers for your devices
Why is it that your phone battery (or tablet, or laptop) never lasts as long as you need it?
You’d think with all the technological advances of the 21st century and with electric cars needing to get from point A to point B that they’d be able to make a phone battery that lasts more than 6 hours. I’m sure a few billion people would shell out an extra $50 for a phone battery that lasts a week!
In the meantime, Portable Chargers (also called power banks or mobile battery packs) are the solution and there’s a plethora of options. Which is the right one for you?
- Consider your battery needs? How many recharges do you need before you get back home to charge the device(s) fully.
Consider how much power in the backup to buy? Measured in mAh (milliamp-hours – 2000 mAh to 20,000+ mAh)- Consider the speed of the charge – measured in W (Watts – 5W to 24 W) with the higher being quick-charge capabilities.
- Consider how many USB connections and the size of the device.
Note a few charging specs for 1 charge:
- A typical iPhone 8 battery capacity is 1820mAh (the iPhone 8plus about 2675 mAh)
- An iPad capacity requires about 8000 mAh to charge
- An Android Galaxy s10 battery capacity is 4100 mAh, Android tablets around 8000 mAh
Our solution for travel – We purchased the Anker PowerCore Portable Charger (20100mAh) with Dual USB ports and fast-charge capabilities. With us each having a phone and tablets and sometimes a long flight or disconnected destination, this was our solution to keep us powered as we needed the boost. Very well-priced on Amazon for its capacity and Anker’s high rating with PCmag, it has been our go-to charging solution for a few trips now and lasted very well.
Until the manufacturers invest in proper battery solutions for our devices, these portable chargers will become our fall-back to keep us powered.
~ GG Staff
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Flights - Arranging Group Seats Together - don't take the chance!
- Do you fly solo, as a couple or as a large group sometimes?
- How important is it to sit together?
To some travelers, seat choice is a major factor for comfort and efficiency (window, aisle, front of the plane or back). With the lowest economy fares for many airlines removing the seat choice option, seat selection is costing more and prioritized to the passengers who opt in for the higher seat rates.
Especially when you travel with a group (like our family of 11 traveling down to a family cruise), sitting together was part of the experience with excited conversations continuing. In this case we opted for the extra fees and called the airline early to coordinate seating by couple and within a batch of 4 rows together. To have everyone split up and disconnected wasn’t an option in the group experience we wanted to have.
For solo travelers, couples or groups where it’s not as critical to sit together, the best advice we have is:
- Once seats are booked and ticketed, after a day or two go to the airlines “manage my flight” web page, log in with your name and flight reference number and see if better seating is available to get that window seat or behind the wing option.
- “check in” as early as your airline allows to choose from the best remaining seats available.
- As you are checking your luggage the day of your flight, ask the check in desk if there are upgrade or “better” seat options to get the seat you want.
~ GG Staff
Have a travel tip to share with your GoGirlfriends? Send us your quick tips, tricks and strategies and we'll publish them here. Email us or connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. Let's continue the conversation!
Book that Excursion in Advance for the "Must Do's" - Like that Vintage Convertible Tour in Cuba
GoGirlfriend loves to travel, and we travel with a purpose or destination in mind – often with the aim to satisfy a bucket-list item! When we know a destination has so many “A” options (THE bucket list item) and so many “B” options, we never scrimp on the “A’s”. That excursion or experience is booked well in advance and confirmed as soon as we know the details of the trip are locked and loaded. There may be many chances to still get our “A” choice once we arrive, but as important as it is, we feel it’s best not left to chance.
On a recent Havana trip with our parents, Dad had always wanted to tour Cuba in a vintage convertible (in this case we booked a 1958 Pontiac Chieftain with Old Car Tours). Upon arriving in Havana, there were vintage cars for rent everywhere that we could have booked. But in reading reviews on the car companies and that we wanted an English speaking guide and an extra hour added to tour the Romeo y Julietta cigar factory, we are very happy we booked in advance with Old Car Tours. We had a spectacular vintage convertible with a really great driver and guide (Carlos and Nacho) - and had a spectacular adventure without the stress of waiting til our arrival in Havana – and saved some money as we compared against the cars available for rent on the spot.
Win, Win, bucket list item checked off!!
~ GG Staff
Have a travel tip to share with your GoGirlfriends? Send us your quick tips, tricks and strategies and we'll publish them here. Email us or connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. Let's continue the conversation!
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