Travel

There has been a huge discussion on our yahoo groups about the costs of traveling to China. Now, more than ever, I am grateful for my 10+ years as a corporate travel agent. I do not feel held "hostage" by the agency's "travel package" because I do my own research and book most everything myself. In 2010, we only saw our guides/drivers during the official appointments anyway, so I didn't feel compelled to spend a ton on tips/gifts for them either. It's worth noting, if you ever decide to adopt, that some agencies charge twice as much for travel as the trip actually costs, which is completely unethical. More children would be adopted if the process wasn't so darned expensive!! Speaking of expensive, this weekend I drove John, Connor and Ben to Ft. Meade Maryland (7+hour car-ride) to participate in a taekwondo tournament. Connor captured gold for sparring and forms, John took a bronze in forms and a gold in sparring, and Ben took a silver in sparring. Once again, I'm a proud momma!! Austin received a phone call from a DIFFERENT exchange/travel company, one that he applied to a long time ago, and they are going to offer him a full scholarship for a summer program! Whoo hoo! Now we just have to compare the two programs and decide which one is right for him. Hooray!