Red Cross
Help Haiti Now
Yele
H.E.L.P. – Haitian Education & Leadership Program
Haiti Children
Help for Haiti – sponsored by the White House
UNICEF 1-800-4UNICEF

Get involved! Its very important!

So they are trying to fix it. And I LOVE it!

The 2009 “CENTsational Sale” to the US Virgin Islands. Tourists that are looking for white sand beaches and water that looks like 3000 flushes can have that dream become a reality at these rock bottom prices.

For those who book before November 2nd, a handful of resorts and hotels are offering 3 nights at only 25 CENTS PER NIGHT. Hard to believe? Yep, thats what I thought. So I went on BookIt! www.usvirginislands.bookit.com And set-up a trip from St. Louis to St. Thomas in a variety of ways and they actually a vacation including round-trip airfare and 3 nights stay for $399 per person plus tax. THAT’S A DEAL!!
(Of course, the $399 price was travel early December mid-week. But, for $529 I could travel Thanksgiving weekend and thats not bad either! The flights are hella long, but thats what happens when you travel at discounted rates…who sleeps on vacation anyway? Besides me & Chrissy…)

Some of the hotels included in the 25 cent nights include:
Marriott Frenchmans Reef and Morning Star Beach Resort
Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa
Bolongo Bay Beach Resort
Windward Passage Hotel
Sapphire Village Resort
Hibiscus Beach Resort
The Plams at Pelican Cove and many others!
From St. Louis these deals ranged from $399 – $1339 for 3 nights.

Included in this deal each guest, up to 2 per room, receive a $25 voucher for meals and a $25 activity voucher that can be used for your choice of activity from snorkeling to banana boat rides.

So if you’re looking to take a sunny, Caribbean beach vacation, without the hassle of applying for a passport try the Virgin Islands!

*Restrictions – must book by midnight November 2nd. Travel must be complete by December 15th. Must stay a minimum of 3 nights. Photos courtesy of Hibiscus Reef Resort, Marriott Frechmans Reef and Morning Star Beach Resort

source: forbes traveler

But, Mardi Gras is only one of many festive Carnivals taking place all of the world this week. Street parties, parades, and people donned in vibrant colors, feathers and beads are a part of Carnival celebrations from Aruba to Trinidad and Tobago to Rio de Janiero.

It seems like every year I’m wishing I was celebrating Carnival, but because the dates vary year-to-year, it always sneaks up on me and I miss it. However, I’ve discovered that Carnival isn’t just celebrated in February, but its held throughout the year around the world.

For instance, Carnival is being celebrated February 23-24 in Aruba, Trinidad/Tobago, Rio de Janiero, New Orleans, Dominica, and Guyana. But, I can still catch Carnival celebrations in Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and the Cayman Islands during the month of April. St. Lucia in June; Barbados in August; and St. Kitts, St. Croix and the Bahamas in December and January. Go here for a listing of more 2009 Carnival dates.

Carnival and Rio go hand-in-hand. If this is the spot where you want to celebrate Carnival next time, you can get your trip planning started early. We’ve got you covered, with a a list of Rio Carnival Dates from 2009 to 2030. Talk about pre-planning!

Carnival isn’t just a Caribbean or South American celebration, Carnivals take place in Venice, Germany, Canada, and the U.S (hey, even ATL celebrates Carnival!). Forbes Traveler has some great photos of how various countries celebrate Carnival. Check it out.

Trinidad

But now I have no excuse to experience the mother of all parties. I’m grabbing my beads and going to shake my “tailfeather”….somewhere…somehow…sometime soon. Question…where should I go for the most ‘unique’ Carnival experience? I know this question will be open for debate…but we welcome it!

JetSetters, have you experienced Carnival? If so, tell us where and your best experience. If you’re like me and you haven’t, where you’d like to celebrate Carnival if given the opportunity?

Share your thoughts.

That’s why we wanted to take this time reflect on how it all began…
In preparation for our trip to Italy in November 2007, I bought a handy travel journal and organizer to document my trip. It had all kinds of travel information and tips. There was a section to write about your dream trips and a section document your experiences on your current trip with a place for keepsakes like tickets, passes, etc. I’d visited numerous places before this trip, and regretted that other than photos, I didn’t have my memories documented. I decided from this point forward, I’d try to journal my travels more.




Ebonee and I also created a little “Diva Guide” for us to keep handy. It was pretty detailed…we had all the travel info in one place, exchange rate info, transportation tips, a listing of places to eat, shop, and party. It was a combination of things we found on various travel sites, but tailored to the things that were most interesting and important to girls like us. This little guide we created proved to be a lifesaver once we got to Italy!

When we returned from our trip, we were ready to upload our pictures and share our stories with our family and friends. I found this cool photo website that was more travel-oriented, called offexploring.com. You could add photos, map your travel locations, and add narrative. We received so many comments from people that really enjoyed the pictures and were inspired to travel more just from seeing our experiences. People even suggested we start a website.
All of this sparked an idea… We both loved to travel, and were able to plan two trips together pretty economically. Why not encourage others to do the same? Thus, TwoJetSetDivas.com was born! We’d never blogged before, but was inspired by the other blogs we read, and believed we could add our own “twist” to travel blogging.

Our original goal was to focus on encouraging more women to travel, because women often juggle so many responsibilities – career, family, and home, that we often do take the time to plan vacations for ourselves. But now, especially in these rough economic times, our aim is to show everyone that traveling affordably, whether domestically or internationally, can be attainable. We also like to share cool and unfamiliar places…so the next time you plan a trip, you can dream BIG!

It’s funny sometimes you never know who’s reading. I recently came across this blog where someone wrote this about us a few months ago. They said, “I love browsing this blog because these women look unbelievably delighted in all of their photos, like they could not be happier. Their joy at traveling is totally apparent.”

We are truly thankful for the experiences we’ve had thus far, and glad that people have noticed our passion for traveling. If we’ve inspired and informed someone through any of our stories…our goal has been accomplished.

As we celebrate our first year…we’re reminiscing and looking back at our first posts. We officially launched our blog on February 4th, 2008, but began experimenting with posting on January 19, 2008 (so we’d have at least some content for folks to read when we launched..lol). We hope you enjoy looking back with us, and we look forward to much more in year number two!

Much Love, JetSetters!!

The Beginning
Our very first post – Hello, World!
Money Matters (This still rings true today) – Almighty Dollar
The Diva Chronicles – Puerto Rico, The Italian Sampler : Part I, and Part II.
Hot events - Super Bowl 2008 and All-Star Weekend 2008
Travel like a celeb - Star Treks
Travel themes - Places to Fall in Love, The Thirsty Traveler, Alternative Vacation

Other cool stories we’ve done over the year…
March - Planning the Perfect Trip, Baggage Fees, ‘Boarding Pass’ wine, Hotel Capsules
April – Traveling Green, Ecotourism, Alicia Keys in Africa, Sail the Amazon in Luxury, Girlfriend Getaways, Cinco de Mayo Celebrations, World’s Largest Pub Crawl, American Airlines Flight Cancellations
May – Motherly Love, The Diva Chronicles : L.A., Sex and the City movie tours
June – Essence Fest 2008, Space Travel, Dream JetSet: French Polynesia, Baggage Fee updates, Cruises, Budget Travel Shopping, Star Treks : London
July – JetSet Diva of the Month, The Diva Chronicles : Costa Rica, Costa Rica Review, The REAL cost of flying, the Truth Behing Booking Vacation Packages, Tips for Planning a Late Summer Vacation, Sound of Music movie tours
August – Beijing Olympics, Hidden Airline Fees, The Best of Barbados, Summer/Fall Festival Guide
September – African Safari Sweepstakes, Passport Cards, The Devil’s Swimming Pool, Galavanting Magazine Cover, Honeymooning in Luxury
Fall 2008 – Portugal and Spain, Fewer Thanksgiving Flights news, Cruise Deals

Your favorite spot may be on another JetSet Diva’s list. The best tips and pointers sometimes aren’t the ones found in travel guides, but the ones we get from each other. And you never know, your story just might land you a spot in our upcoming JetSet Diva of the Month section.

Do share the details…details.

Share with us your dream vacation, or (if it’s not the same place) where you would like to go on vacation this year. The first step toward GOING is THINKING! So think about it…then talk about it, Divas!

This blog was created with these Divas in mind. Women who are ready to take on the globe, one trip at a time. Count on us to bring a fun and fresh twist on travel commentary and information. We’ve been inspired to go and explore what’s beyond our mailing addresses, and we hope that through this blog, you’ll be inspired to do the same. If you’re already a seasoned globetrotting Diva, our goal to provide access to valuable resources that will make your travel plans go seemlessly. JetSet Divas believe that we deserve to experience all that world has to offer.

And there’s definitely a lot… So, let’s GO, Divas. We’ve got the map.