London Calling

Really REALLY cool shots of an empty London
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2011/12/25/photos-of-an-empty-london-on-christmas-morning/

Nifty Giftys

Looking for a unique and functional gift for your own Travel Lush?  I found this website with ordinary travel products in neat designs.
http://www.flight001.com

Official. Period.

And I booked our flights today on Emirates to go to South Africa and Dubai!!  I also downloaded my first Kindle travel guide: "UAE - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture".  The UAE is a mix of the modern and traditional and I want to make sure that Mr. Lush & I don't make any big mistakes since my general expertise is European culture. 

Unofficially official

You know what my absolute favorite lesson learned from working in the travel industry is?  Stopover flights!  If you are traveling on a carrier that has to connect in their hub anyway, you can plan to stay for a few days and visit said city for either no extra cost or a small additional cost.
Case in point - We have *almost* finalized our trip to South Africa (hence the unofficial tag to this post) and as luck would have it the best flight option to get to Johannesburg from the Northeastern US and out of Capetown later is Air Emirates...which means that we can stop in Dubai for 2 nights on the way back!! 
I still need to book said flights, but we're basically all settled to go do this.  This will definitely be my most adventurous travel based on destination & unfamiliarity...though my trip to Nicaragua was a little less posh.  I'm definitely nervous to go to the UAE as I want to make sure that I behave properly...but I think it will be an amazing experience. 
Still need to share some stories from my recent London trip...especially since I had upgrades on my flights both ways!!!