Work was a lot this week, but now we are enjoying some time off! To get me out of work mode I started fantasizing about our upcoming international vacations for the rest of the year and excited to share our plans with you and tease some upcoming flight and hotel reviews.

7/20-7/24 Half Naked Solo Trip to the UK

Purpose of the trip: Celebrate starvation and being miserable at the gym with almost naked photos! LOL I already wrote about this one so I will leave it here

Flights:

MIA-LHR American Airlines Premium Economy (curious if this much cheaper alternative to business might be a nice sweet spot of saving money but getting some luxury. For review purposes this is my most intriguing flight.

LHR-MIA American Airlines Economy (I can review this one now 0 out of 5 LOL)

Hotels:

London: Great Northern Hotel: Historic 5 star (we shall see) Hotel near Kings Cross. Location for this one as I am only in London for a night and wanted to be by the train station. However a truly historic boutique hotel and I am excited to see it

Nottingham: Mecur Hotel City Centre: Smaller boutique hotel. Looks fine.

8/23-9/4 Tuscany (and a quickie in Zurich) with our Mothers, Neil and Sean

Purpose of the trip: We are returning to our favorite villa outside of Siena, Italy with our mothers. It was so special bringing our mothers and we loved it so much we are returning along with new friends! We will also be exploring Florence for a few days and spending a night in Zurich.

Flights:

BOS-CDG: Air France Business class

CDG-FLR: Air France Business Class

FCO-ZRH Swiss Air Business Class

ZRH-BOS Swiss Air Business Class

BOS-MIA American Airlines Business Class (ugh just me as I need to go back to FL to drive the babies to our new house in Maine.)

Note: I would not splurge for within Europe business class as they are economy seats with the middle seat left open. But they are part of a connection and were included.

Hotels:

Florence: St Regis Hotel (😊) Generally considered one of the best hotels in Florence, we shall find out)

Montepulciano: Villa Bossoncina (already know it is 5/5 but we will review it properly after)

Zurich: Radisson Blu Hotel-located within walking distance of the terminal

10/14-10/24 Autumn in Paris and the French Coast

Purpose of the trip: House Hunting!

Jk….sort of!

Is there ever justification needed to go to Paris? It is one of our favorite cities in the world and cannot wait to return. We are also going to the South of France near Montpellier to visit an All-Male clothing optional chateau. Lots of food and wine on this one!

Flights:

BOS-LIS: TAP Portugal Business Class

LIS-ORL (other Paris airport): TAP Portugal Business Class

CDG-MPL Air France Business Class

MRS-LHR British Airways Business Class

LHR-BOS  British Airways Business Class

Hotels:

Paris: Prince de Galles A Luxury Collection Hotel-considered the top Hotel in Paris that participates in Marriott Bonvoy

Small village southern France: Cinq e Sept-All Male Clothing optional hotel

11/25-12/5 Our Sister Is Getting Married in Calgary!

Purpose: Winter in Calgary….Thanks Katie and Nick! Just teasing cannot wait to celebrate your special day, finally!

Flights (probably no reviews as they are all your standard economy ❤ hour flights)

PWM (Portland)-EWR-United Economy Plus

EWR-YYC Air Canada Economy (sorry Matt)

YYC-ORD-United Business Class

ORD-PWM

Hotels:

Residence Inn South Calgary: Working from the hotel for the week so this is a great option

Best Western Plus Calgary: For the wedding

Marriott YYC Airport: So far our favorite airport hotel

Wow 4 Out and Abroad trips in 5 months! I Will write more about each individual trip in future posts but I do want to point out a few things that helps keep these trips luxurious but within a budget which is our mission here at Out and Abroad. Clearly there are a lot of business class flights in here which can’t be cheap, but take notice we connect quite a bit. Connection can save money. Specific airlines like Tap Portugal offer a full oversea business flight experience for a fraction of the cost too. Also;

• Many of our hotels are on points, please stop using debit and get a (travel perk) credit card and pay off each month. The rewards are quite something.
• Stopping in Zurich for one night literally made our business class seats cheaper than economy
• A week at the villa is cheaper than 5 nights at a nice hotel in any tourist area in the United States, plus we cook most of our meals

I hope this post inspires you to start thinking about your holidays for the rest of the year. Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about our trips. Otherwise please leave a comment with your 2022 travel plans, domestic too!

Bon voyage,

Andrew