My personal experience at the ALG Vacations’ Ascend 2023 Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Recently, one of our Boscov’s Travel Advisors attended the ALG Vacations’ Ascend 2023 conference where she took daily classes, toured resorts and learned information and vacation ideas to bring back to YOU, our valued clients!

Ascend 2023 Conference

This fall 2023, I had the pleasure of attending an exclusive event hosted in Cancun, Mexico.  Ascend 2023 is an invite only, Travel Advisor event presented by ALG Vacations. The event exceeded and went way beyond all my expectations! ALG Vacations blew me away with all of the branding, participants in the gigantic trade show, guest speakers, lectures, entertainment, and the 600+ professional travel agents that were invited. Everything was truly top of the line. During the conference, I attended lectures, classes, breakout sessions and saw resorts which allowed me to bring back first-hand knowledge to our clients. As a Boscov’s Travel Advisor, I am continuously looking to travel and learn about the destinations and attractions that I think our clients would love.

Royalton Chic Cancun

Junior Suite Oceanfront Double Room

View from Oceanfront Room

With that being said, during the conference Travel Advisors were placed at five different large resorts. I ended up staying at the beautiful Royalton Chic Cancun. The Royalton Chic Cancun was truly stunning and located in the heart of Cancun’s beautiful beaches! I’ve personally been to Cancun eleven times, but have never stayed in the hotel zone which is where this resort is located. Needless to say, I enjoyed it very much!

Beach

With nine dining options (delicious), multiple pools, large well-appointed rooms, and a staff that exceeded my expectations, the resort did not disappoint. There is a rooftop party pool with private cabanas and guest DJ’s accessible to guests and the public for a fee. The resort’s beaches were stunning with perfectly turquoise, warm water. A neat feature the resort has is a keyless entry ID bracelet for resort guests that made access to the room easy-peasy. On top of that, the entertainment team and nightly shows were engaging and fun. The resort truly was incredible!

Ascend 2023 Conference

I recommend the resort to anyone looking for an active resort filled with activities. The Royalton Chic Cancun truly has an energetic adult vibe with luxury features and amenities. If you’re considering a trip to Cancun, you can’t go wrong with staying there. With our wealth of knowledge, your local Boscov’s Travel Advisor can help you plan your next vacation to Mexico today. See you at the pool!

Halloween Fans Vacations

Spooky thrills, the hair on your neck standing straight up, screams, and pumpkins – nothing sounds better to a Halloween fan than this. It’s October, are you itching for some Halloween fun? We’ve pulled together some of the best vacation spots for Halloween thrills for all ages. We promise you’ll be shaking in your boots and having the time of your life. Now is the perfect time to start planning a ghoulish getaway for next year.

1 – Savannah, Georgia – Known as the city that’s built on top of her dead as there’s always a cemetery nearby

© Ghost City Tours
Grave Tales Ghost Tour:

• All ages
• 90-minutes
• Walking tour
• Alcohol and pet friendly tour
• History and haunting
• Visit Savannah Haunted Mansions, Historic Homes, Haunted Cemeteries, Burial grounds, Revolutionary War Battlefield, and more
• Visit Johnson Square where you could meet Little Gracie. This spirit plays in the square and is known for grabbing guests’ hands

© Ghost City Tours
Dead of Night Ghost Tour:

• Ages 16 +, most popular adults only tour
• 90-minutes
• Walking tour
• Alcohol and pet friendly tour
• Explore locations where darker hauntings take place like demons, possessions and murders – you’ll always be watched on this tour
• Visit 5-8 locations including: the Foley House Inn and the Sorrel Weed House

© Trolley Tours
Ghosts and Gravestones Trolley Tour:

• Ages 13+
• 1-hour
• Trolley tour
• Haunted sites, eerie legends, and frightening residents
• Visit the Andrew Low House, Perkins & Son’s Ship Chandlery, cemeteries, bloodshed battlegrounds, and more

2 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Known for it’s rich and dark history haunts

© Ghost City Tours
Haunted Pub Crawl:

• Ages 21+
• 2-hours
• Walking tour
• Alcohol friendly – drinks keep flowing
• Visit haunted pubs and restaurants
• Visit the Haunted Bourbon Orleans, the Ghosts of Tujague’s, Pirate’s Alley, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, and more

© Ghost City Tours
The Killers and Thrillers Tour:

• Ages 16+
• 90-minutes
• Walking tour
• Alcohol and pet friendly tour
• If you’re a true crime fan, this one’s for you – you’ll learn about the most notorious and gruesome crimes of the city
• Visit the Pharmacy Museum, Sultan’s Palace, Beauregard-Keyes House and follow an off beaten path for more

© Ghost City Tours
Ghosts of New Orleans Tour:

• All ages
• 90-minutes
• Walking tour
• Alcohol and pet friendly tour
• Visit some of New Orleans most famous haunted locations including: Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, LaLaurie Mansion, the Andrew Jackson hotel, the Haunted Hotel Villa Convento, and more

3 – Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida – Known for its not too spooky magical time


Boo Bash:

• All ages
• 3-hours
• Trick-or-treating throughout the park
• Shorter wait times
• Parades
• Performances
• Characters in Halloween attire
• Special décor, lighting and music
• Ice cream novelties, popcorn, and select beverages included in event cost
• Festive food and beverages including: foolish mortal funnel cake and apple ginger dale frozen drink (allergy-free options available)

4 – Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida & Hollywood, California – the 30th year of the world’s premier Halloween event

© Universal Studios
Halloween Horror Nights

• Ages 13+
• Hours vary between 6:30pm and 2:00am
• Scare zones where you’ll be surrounded by shadows lurking, scares, screams, and thrills
• 13 Haunted Houses including: Beetlejuice, the Haunting of Hill House, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Universal Monsters: the Bride of Frankenstein, Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth, and more
• Jack the Clown will be back lunging from the shadows
• Mazes
• Select rides and attractions
• Live entertainment
• Themed foods and drinks including alcoholic beverages

These thrilling locations and tours make our hairs stand up – we’re excited to go! Are you ready for the biggest spooks and fun of your life? Dare to begin your Halloween vacation now by visiting our start planning page today. Outside of the area? We are happy to assist you online and by phone at 800-755-8020.

 

Niles Virtual Office – Grand Opening!

Boscov’s Travel Virtual Office Grand Opening

 

New and exciting things are coming to Boscov’s Travel! We’re thrilled for the grand opening of our Virtual Travel Office in Niles, Ohio on October 7, 2021. The virtual office is located near the courtesy desk within the all-new Niles, Ohio Boscov’s in the Eastwood Mall. The office has a touch-screen kiosk with a webcam and microphone that clients can use to live video chat with our Boscov’s Travel Advisors along with a printer to receive documents. In addition to live chats, clients can use the touch-screen capabilities to learn more About Us, Meet Our Advisors, and check out some details on different vacation options in the “Wanna Get Away?” section. Here you can also learn about our full services including leisure travel, wedding/honeymoon travel, group travel and business travel.

We are very excited to kick off our first ever Virtual Travel Office! To celebrate, we will be having a month-long company-wide Grand Opening Sale with exclusive travel bonus deals from many of our top preferred travel partners. Visit boscovstravel.com/niles for these awesome deals. We can’t wait to serve our new clients in Niles, Ohio.

Taking the Perfect Travel Photo

Do you ever look back through your photos after traveling and wonder why your photo doesn’t do justice for where you traveled to? I do. As I scroll through my image library, I tend to be disappointed as my photos look bland. What happened to that beautiful landscape, that smiling local, and that delicious meal? These places brought more to the table than what my photographs show and I want to be able to share that experience through my photos – for viewers to feel the excitement, smell the atmosphere, and taste the food. The only way to share these experiences in this way is to learn how to take the perfect travel photo, which is exactly what I did. Now it’s your turn!

To take the perfect travel photo we should know more about the place we are going, right? Yes! This means you’ll need to research the location you are traveling to. Search landmarks, architecture, areas of natural beauty, events, and anything else you may want to see and take pictures of. Make a list and prioritize what you want to see. You might want to find out when the sun rises and sets at the place you’re going to for the best lighting and even look up how to say words like “hello,” “smile,” and “thank you” so you can take pictures of locals.

The first thing may seem obvious to start off with, but you want to make sure your camera and/or phone battery is charged – you can always bring a backup battery or portable charger. Another must do is to make sure there is plenty of storage on your device. You want to be able to take as many photos as you want and not run out of space. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with your camera and/or phone settings. This is so you can change your settings when you need to and you’ll be ready to go! Now it’s time to divulge into the good stuff – lets take a look at lighting and contrast, Rule of Thirds, focal point, frames, and angles.

Lighting and Contrast

When taking the perfect travel photo you definitely want to know how to work with lighting and contrast. Working with light takes some getting used to. When you take a photo you will always want the sun to be behind you so your subject is illuminated from the front. If the sun is not behind you, the photo will not be well lit. If you are stuck with direct sunlight, use your camera’s daylight mode. This will adjust the intensity and color temperature so your photo will look fantastic! If you want to manually adjust the color temperature, you can play around with the white balance and color temperature settings on your camera to find the optimal lighting for the photo you’re about to take. If you’re out and about at night, make sure you put your camera’s low light settings on and use flash. This will help warm up colors and help your night time photo look great. It’s very important to know your camera’s settings before heading on your trip so you can effectively change your lighting settings when you need it.

Contrast is a distinguishable difference between objects. You can play with colors to find contrast – think of the color wheel and use opposites when finding colors to contrast in your photo. Contrast can be used with patterns, clouds, and shapes too. When you look around the area where you want to capture your photo, think of contrast and it will help your image pop!

Amalfi coast

Rule of Thirds

When taking a photo you’ll want to break your photo into three equal parts horizontally and vertically. Some camera settings allow you to place a grid on the screen which will make this process easier for you. Next, you’ll want to find three elements that you want to focus on in your photo. For example, let’s say your three elements are a rock, a mountain, and a plant. You’ll want to place these three elements on three different sections of your gridlines – this will draw your viewers’ eyes to subjects in the photo. Now that you understand the Rule of Thirds you can change up your focal point!

Meadow with yellow flowers and mountains

Focal Point

The focal point is what you want image viewers to focus on. If you have a travel companion, put them in your photo as a subject and if you’re solo traveling, look for a subject. You’ll want to look for the small details to find your subject – the quirky, colorful and cultural details. For example, if you want to take a photo of a mountain or anything larger than life, you’ll want to show your viewers how big the main subject actually is. To do this, place a smaller subject in the distance which will show the perspective of how large the bigger subject (the mountain) is. Line the mountain or object in the back with the smaller parts in view. Your viewers will see your photograph and say “wow” just like you did when you were standing there in person. The focal point is just one way to show off your awesome trip.

Murano canal

Frames

Another way to take a perfect travel photo is by framing. Framing draws focus to a subject in the photo which can be done in multiple ways. The first way you can frame a subject is by putting one subject clear into focus and blur the background. Your camera will have a setting to be able to do this. On a phone, setting will be called “portrait mode.” A second way to frame is by using leading lines. Leading lines are roads, lines, or anything else that draws a line(s) to the main subject. Using leading lines sends the viewer of the image deeper into the photo. The last way to use frames is by using other objects to frame your main subject to keep the focal point obvious. You can do this by having your subject between doors, windows, trees, branches or anything else you can find that will frame your subject. This will allow your subject to be the focal point, but also adds texture to your photo. Give framing a try, I guarantee you’ll love the results.

Eiffel tower with smiling person

Angles

Have you ever seen a photographer climbing walls or lying on the ground? Try it! Angles are important to play around with when taking a photo because doing so gives you unique shots and changes up your viewpoint. Changing up a view point in a photo shows a perspective that people normally don’t see, like a view from the ground. Angles are an important part in capturing the perfect travel photo.

Golden Gate Bridge

Tell A Story

Lastly, tell your travel story! If you want to take a photo, think about what you want to bring to life in your shot. What thoughts, feelings, smell, and emotions do you want your viewers to feel? They say a picture is worth a thousand words – this is so true! Knowing what you want to bring to life will help you acknowledge what you really want to capture and help you tell your story. Try getting up early or staying up late to take the images that most people wouldn’t. Tourist spots won’t be as crowded and you’ll even get the golden hour glow – it’s worth trying!

Golden hour with road

Another way to tell a story is to get lost on purpose. Take the road less traveled, but first make sure to ask locals that where you’re headed is safe. Wonder around for the day, see what you find. I guarantee you’ll find authentic places and more locals. Locals tend to stay away from tourist areas so if you’re off the beaten path, you’ll have an opportunity to photograph the culture of your travel spot! This is why I mentioned to learn how to say a few words so you can ask locals to take their picture to capture their emotions and day. Bring the entire trip to life in any way possible and tell your story.

Now that you have the techniques to take a perfect travel photo, it’s time to head to a destination! When you look back through your photos after traveling, you’ll be happier than you’ve ever been before looking through your photos. As you scroll through your image library you may find yourself proud because your photos give your experience justice. Your viewers will not only see the beautiful sites but they’ll be able to feel the emotions, smell the smells, and even taste the food through your photos. You’ll have the perfect travel photos and they will definitely be worth a thousand words.