…and you can too! 

Earlier this year my wife and I traveled to Cancun Mexico for a 4 day vacation at an all inclusive resort.  That is, put away the check book, all the food, drink and fun is free.  We did this for right around $500 US per person.  The $500 included airfare and 3 nights + 4 days at a 4 star hotel.  We spent a few dollars on the shuttle from the airport, tips and gifts, but that amounted to less than $100.  We had a fantastic time!

We are thinking about doing it again.  Here are some tips to use to get a great deal on your next vacation.

1. Be flexible.  My wife and I are pretty lucky that we both have relatively flexible schedules.  The kids are getting older (i.e. they can be counted on to be self sufficient at home or travel with us) and our jobs don’t demand a lengthy lead time for taking vacation time.
2. Don’t be too picky.  If your ideal vacation is a week in London, don’t plan on getting away cheap.  It seems that these days, the best deals from the US for your money are in Central America and the Caribbean (leave of comment if you know of other inexpensive destinations!)
3. Don’t be afraid of last minute deals.  When buying tickets from sites like Expedia or Travelocity you can get quite inexpensive last minute deals.  Be sure to read and understand the fine print, but don’t be scared off by not getting tickets in the mail or via a face-to-face travel agent. 
4. Subscribe to a few of the best travel deal websites.  I have e-mail subscriptions to Expedia, Travelocity, Booking Buddy, and Cheap Caribbean.  Each week I see a deal or two that interests me.

That’s about it.  That’s my vacation planning process in a nutshell.  If you have any tips or know of great new regions to vacation in (inexpensively, please), leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Today, I added a new blog feature called “Stuff I Found Elsewhere”.  This list will be frequently updated with items that I found interesting around the web and shared via Google Reader.  The list contains the latest ten entries.  At the bottom of the list is a “Read more...” link that will take you to my list of all the items I have shared via Google Reader. 

If you are interested in more information about sharing your favorite web articles via Google’s Reader, click here.  Google Reader is my favorite fast and flexible RSS reader.  For those Bloggers out there, Google Reader offers an easy to use option to add the same widget to your blog.

For more information, read;

• Sharing Stuff with Google Reader
• Getting Started with Google Reader
• Google Reader for Bloggers

This is not a story about how cool the iPod Touch is.  This is a story about how I acquired my iPod Touch and how I will try to acquire electronic gadgets in the future.

For those who do not know, an iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone.  The iPod Touch has all the same software applications as the iPhone and allows you to surf the Internet via any standard wi-fi connection.  My iPod Touch allow me to check my e-mail, read my RSS Feeds and is perhaps the best small-form-factor mobile Internet browser available.  Safari (the iPod Touch Internet Browser), does an incredible job making the Internet readable on such a small device.

…the iPod Touch is cool.  And that is why I did not want to buy one.  I hate getting sucked into buying “cool” products only to find out that they are useless.  I’d rather be productive than cool.  I have an aversion to cool products because;

1. They are typically outrageously priced.
2. The functionality does not live up to the media hype and my expectations.
3. The “cool factor” wears off after a couple of days.

So this time I did things a little different.  Rather than put out $300 for a brand new un-me-tested iPod Touch, I waited.  I waited for my son to get one!  And he did.  He got one for his birthday.  Turns out that after a few weeks, the “cool factor” wore off and he used his iPod Touch to only listen to music.  Heck, you could get a $50 iPod Shuffle for that!

So I made a deal with the boy.  I get to use his iPod Touch for 2 weeks and if I like it, I give him $150 bucks to purchase a different iPod model to listen to his music.  It turns out that the 2 week try-before-you-buy time is exactly what I needed.   I found that I used it every day.  I found that it has a great Internet browser.  I found that it interfaces nicely with Gmail.  I found that it syncs my calendar and contacts with Microsoft Outlook.  I found that I love it!

So, I made the purchase from my son.  Next time I want something “cool”, I hope to do a 2 week try-before-you-buy to ensure I “need” that cool new product.  Anyone looking to unload a MacBook Air?

Are you using an RSS Reader to read your favorite blogs and web sites?  If not, you should be!  RSS is the most efficient way to weed through hundreds (or thousands) of web articles quickly and easily.  An RSS reader will allow you to take in the stories of interest to you and skip through all the clutter.

If you are new to RSS, read my article titled A Simple Guide to RSS.  Have questions about RSS?  Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

Here is a little bit about my RSS setup:

Reader: Google Reader

Preferred Hardware:  My Apple IPOD Touch.  Google has a great interface for the iTouch/iPhone! 

Here is a sample of some of my favorite RSS Feeds:

• Digital Photography School
• Lifehacker
• Scott Berkun dot com
• This Garden is Illegal

Recently, I have needed to schedule meetings in Outlook with colleagues in the UK.  Albeit a simple 6 hour time difference, I am a bit time-math challenged and prefer a visual representation of the time difference when scheduling meetings.  Microsoft Outlook has a feature for this.

To display 2 time zones on your Outlook calendar, follow these steps.

1. In Outlook, select your Calendar.  Next, right click the on the bar that represents the hour and select Change Time Zone.

2. Check the box to Show an Additional Time Zone, give it a Label (name) and select the Time Zone.

That's it!  Now, you will see 2 time zones when you view your Outlook calendar.

From the Household-Hack department, today we will discuss how to best deal with dog pee on a carpet.  For those with dogs, you know what a drag it is when your dog pee's on the carpet.  My family has two dogs that do this from time to time.  I swear those dogs are lucky that they are still alive.  If you are like me or my wife, you want to strangle your dog when you discover that he/she has pee'd in the house.  Then again, we pet owners tend to forgive and forget pretty quickly; thus two dogs continue to roam my house (and occasionally pee in the house).

With that, we've discovered another great use for Hydrogen Peroxide.  Yes, the same miracle medicine I prescribe for the common cold.  Used correctly, Hydrogen Peroxide can be used to rid your carpet of doggie-accident stains!

Here is how;

Step 1: Lightly soak up the pee with a (or several) paper towel(s).

Step 2: Liberally pour some Hydrogen Peroxide on the pee stain (HP is only $1 for a 32 oz. bottle; don't be shy with it!).  Let it settle for a few minutes.

Step 3: Dab up the mess with a few more paper towels.

The mess is gone and with a little luck, no stains in the carpet.  This trick has worked better than any over-the-counter solution for my wife and I.

Got a better trick for dealing with dog pee?  Leave a comment and share it!

A while back I wrote about a nicely put together list comparing 100+ GTD software titles.  The list is maintained by a company called Priacta.  I had never worked with Priacta so I asked the readers of this blog if they had any experience with this company.  The feedback was phenomenal.  I received a number of e-mails and blog comments using words like "highly recommended", "invaluable", and "life changing".  Click here to read the comments that were made on the original blog post.

Needless to say, my interest in Priacta was piqued.  So what does Priacta do?  Here is what their website has to say;

Priacta, Inc., is located in Richmond, Virginia. We are time management experts in the business of disruptive innovation. This is just a fancy way of saying that we produce radically new, dramatically effective software and time management systems to revolutionize the way the world works.

Shortly after my blog post about the Priacta software list, Kevin Crenshaw from Priacta offered me a copy of their "Coach Assisted Self Training System" to try out.  The Priacta Coach Assisted Self Training System included;

• The TRO Field Guide self training system (printed manual and/or instant download)
• The Trog Bar software
• 21 days of telephone based coach follow-up & accountability

Although I did not take advantage of the 21 days of telephone coaching, I did spend some quality time with the TRO Field Guide and the Trog Bar.  The TRO (Total, Relaxed Organization) system is based on David Allen's book, Getting Things Done.  Whereas David's book focuses on the principals of GTD, the Priacta TRO system walks you step-by-step through implementing GTD. 

It all starts with the TRO Field Guide.  The TRO Field Guide is a self paced training manual.  You don't need any background in GTD (or have even read David Allen's book) to follow the TRO Field Guide.  It starts with the basics of how the training system works, why you would want to implement the TRO system, and the principles of GTD.  Next, the training manual provides 18 "bite sized" chapters showing you why and how to implement GTD using the TRO system.  The chapters are small and easy to follow.  For the GTD newbie, this approach is invaluable.   The cool thing about Priacta's approach is that they show you how to implement  GTD, not just present the GTD concepts.    

I have talked with many people who have either read "Getting Things Done" or have taken GTD training and have not been able to implement a sustainable system following the GTD principals.  The Priacta system and approach would be perfect for those people!

I did mess a bit with the Priacta Trog Bar software.  The Trog Bar is a neat piece of software that helps organize things.  The Trog Bar works in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook.  My favorite feature is something called "Task Sense".  Using "Task Sense", the Trog Bar makes recommendations on the best task to work on next.  The TRO Field Guide show many examples using the Trog Bar to manage your time and tasks.

Overall, I'm impressed with Priacta's Total Relaxed Organization approach to time and task management training.  I would recommend it to anyone new to GTD or anyone who has tried GTD but "fallen off the wagon".  The step-by-step approach with real examples, is an excellent way to get your arms around the GTD concepts and implement a system that will bring you closer to becoming a productivity ninja.

Weekly recap of GTD highlights (news, views, tips and tricks) from around the web

[11 Entries]

GTD madness for iPhone
By Andy J. S.(Andy J. S.)
Alright, I’m sure most of you have already known what GTD is. If not, then please head to my previous post here at PalmAddict to get more links about it. Now while I’ve mentioned about my last post about GTD, I’m going to discuss two ...

Multi-tasking leads to inefficiency
New Vision - Kampala,Uganda
“Too many people are obsessed with the idea of getting things done. They think their stature rises by doing multiple tasks. It doesn’t. ...

5 Things That Changed My Life, and Could Change Yours
By Nirav
And then I found David Allen’s Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. The trick is to get it out of your head and into a trusted system that you can use whenever you need to. It is only when your mind is clear and ...

Best Buy is testing a new technology recycling program in 117 of it's US stores.

• Participating stores will accept a variety of electronic devices for recycling, free of charge.
• Consumers can bring in a maximum of 2 items per day; including computer monitors, computer processors, cameras, phones, and televisions up to 32 inches.
• Large appliances will not be accepted.  This includes air conditioners, microwave ovens, console televisions, and other large appliances.

Best Buy will work with it's recycling partners and supplier to evaluate this test before rolling it out to the 1,300 Best Buy stores located in the US, Canada and China.

For more details see;

• The Press Release detailing Best Buy's Technology Recycling Test Program.
• A list of the participating stores.

Related Recycling Posts from My GTD Stuff;

• Recycling Computers & Accessories with help from Sam's Club
• Reuse, Reycyle, Make a Difference

Weekly recap of GTD highlights (news, views, tips and tricks) from around the web

[9 Entries]

The Secret To Success
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
Getting organized (a la David Allen) won't in itself solve the bigger issues and creative challenges that we all face from time to time. ...

The Perfect Productivity System
WebWorkerDaily - San Francisco,CA,USA
There’s David Allen’s Getting Things Done, Steven Covey’s 7 Habits, and, more recently, Leo Babauta’s Zen to Done. You don’t have to buy all the books, ...