May 2017

Two family members and I had a long layover scheduled in Beijing, China, on Nov. 28, 2016, and we wanted to pack in about eight hours of local travel in the city. I tried arranging transportation with several companies, but their rates and availability were all over the place.

Three months before our trip, while searching the Internet, I discovered Ms. Mary Ma at Tour Beijing (2001-1-1 Nanxiaojie, Guangqumen, Dongcheng District, Beijing, PRC; phone +86 10 67160201 [ext. 1020], www.tour-beijing.com).

During a visit to Zihuatanejo, Mexico, in January-February 2017, my husband and I used the services of Ketavi Tours (Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico; phone +52 [755] 55 9 30 23, ketavi.com) for airport transfers and a scenic tour to several of the beaches north of Zihuatanejo, including Playa Linda and Troncones.

The owner of Ketavi, Ulises Solano, was very responsive and wonderful to work with. I had emailed him our flight details about two months before our trip, and he greeted us inside the airport to help with our luggage.

I booked “Sunny Portugal” through AAA Vacations (800/922-8228, ww1.aaa.com); the 10-day tour was run by Collette (Pawtucket, RI; 800/340-5158, www.gocollette.com). Its cost, including air, single supplement, insurance and optionals, came to $3,854.

Flying TAP Portugal, I left Miami, Florida, for Lisbon on Nov. 11, 2016. The service on the flight was very good.

The tour provided a kaleidoscope of fond memories. 

My husband, Gerald Liedl, and I made a trip to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Oct. 5-15, 2016, with Kutrubes Travel (Boston, MA; 800/878-8566, www.kutrubestravel.com). 

For our private tour, we each paid $2,999 (plus airfare, which we arranged, ourselves, through United). The cost covered a car, driver and guide throughout, as well as hotels, all meals, transfers, entrance fees and even bottled water each day.

Food was abundant and tasty and served family-style, so we could eat as much as we wanted. 

I flew from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Los Angeles in business class on Qatar Airways in February 2016, purchasing the flight with American Airlines miles. I just had to write about it.

For sleeping, the seat on the Qatar flight reclined flat. The attendants provided both a mattress pad and a sparkling-white sheet along with two spotless and very comfortable pillows in cotton cases and a quilt wrapped in a white duvet. The cabin staff made up my bed, and after I had eight hours of sound sleep, they unmade it so the bedding would not be in my way.