Category / vocation

by Kelly Mattei

Polaroid: The Gift of Nostalgia and New Memories

Polaroid: The Gift of Nostalgia and New Memories

I love nostalgic gifts, and I believe lots of other people do too. There’s something fun about remembering old times, and a gift that can conjure up those memories is usually a hit! Polaroid does that for me. I can remember Polaroid cameras from my childhood, my teen years, and even as an adult! When I was a kid, it was fun waiting for the picture to develop, and back then, it was the only way we could see a photo almost instantly! I took one on a school trip to Mexico, and I still have the fun photos! Times have changed, but it’s still fun to print out instant photos instead of just looking at them on our phones. I have used Polaroids at parties as parting gifts and used them at other times for capturing new memories. I even see people using them online to surprise people with a picture of an unexpected guest standing behind them at a party!

Someone on your list would love a Polaroid, and now it comes in a bundle when you purchase the Polaroid Now+ Generation 2 – Camera + Film Bundle (16 Photos Included) – Bluetooth Connected App Controlled Instant Film Camera from Amazon. This is not the Polaroid of your childhood…it’s better! It still offers fun instant photos, but it also offers a Bluetooth compatible app that increases creativity, and the bundle comes with film and extra lens filters! It will be a favorite gift this Christmas! Or gift one to yourself and use it to make new memories during the holiday season! It’s offered in Black and White, so you can choose! It gets great reviews on Amazon, and it’s priced at less than $160 for the whole bundle! I’m buying a black one as soon as I finish typing. My daughter will have a lot of fun capturing memories at college with a Polaroid. Purchase now at Amazon here.

Order now to get them in time for the holidays!

by Kelly Mattei

Planning an International Vacation?

Planning an international vacation?

The world is a crazy place right now, for sure. I know lots of people who are freaking out a little about planning an international vacation. Some of them aren’t sure about the safety or peace levels in the countries they want to visit. I don’t always have answers, but I do have some websites travelers can check when they are planning their international travel…places that give information about safety and peace levels.

I just returned from a trip to Panamá City, Panamá…yes, the one in Central America. I had been to several countries in South America and Central America, but I had never visited Panamá, so I decided to go. I invited my cousin from Florida to go with me. Whenever either of us told someone from the United States that we were visiting Panamá, they acted surprised. Some of them said, “Don’t get kidnapped.” Some of them said, “Oooh…be very careful.” Lots of them asked, “Is it safe to go there?” Anyone who knows me knows I do my homework. I was in the travel business for ten years, so I know “how to do.” There are never any guarantees of safety, but I do my research before I travel anywhere, and my research on Panamá told me we would likely be safe. In my research, I learned it is one of the most stable, safe countries in Central and South America, only behind Costa Rica. Here’s what I will tell you: during the week we were there, we never felt even remotely threatened…not one time. We felt welcome, and we felt safe. In fact, I highly recommend traveling to Panamá if you’re interested in seeing a beautiful city, the Panama Canal, maybe a sloth or two…and meeting some awesome people.

If you’re considering international travel but don’t know how to check the safety and peace levels in an area you want to visit, I have some websites for you to visit:

  • Visionofhumanity.org. This website, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, says it “measures peace in a complex world.” The publication at the website is called the Global Peace Index, and it ranks the most and least peaceful countries of the world. The report also offers information about results and trends in peace, the economic impact of violence, conflict hotspots, and positive peace. You might even be a little surprised at how some countries rank. I will go ahead and tell you Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world, and Afghanistan is the least. Those people who were worried about my travel to Panamá? I’m guessing they will be surprised to learn Panamá ranks 64th in the Global Peace Index, and out of the 163 countries on the list, the United States of America ranks as the 131st most peaceful country…yikes! See the report here. It makes for a great read.
  • US Department of State–Bureau of Consular Affairs. I have used this website for years. It gives details information on different destinations. The US Dept of State issues travel advisories for every country, and often, for different regions within a country. For example, there are places in Mexico that are listed as “do not travel,” and there are other regions that are simply listed as “exercise increased caution.” You will be surprised at some of the countries that are listed in the “exercise increased caution” category…Netherlands, France, Belize, and even Costa Rica! Most of the “exercise increased caution” is due to petty crime. We have to exercise increased caution in many parts of our own country, right? And there are even parts of our country that I would list as “do not travel.” If you’d like to check out what the US Department of State has to say about the places you want to visit, see the website here. To see lots more travel information offered by the US Department of State, check out all the available information on the website. You can see the homepage and work from it here.
  • US News and World Report. US News and World Report published an article last week listing countries that should not be visited by US citizens right now. Most of the information, I believe, comes from the US Dept of State travel advisories, so you will likely see duplicate information, but because of the way it’s written, it’s easy to see the countries you should not visit. Please note that in Mexico, there are different advisory levels in different states of the country. See the article here.

Always do your research before you travel! Also, when you travel internationally, make sure you enroll in the US Department of State STEP program, the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which is a service to allow US citizens traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest US Embassy or Consulate. Through this program, you can receive important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country. The Embassy will also know where to contact you in case of a natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency. See the website here.

Do your homework when you travel, and you are likely to be safe!

Happy Travels!

by Kelly Mattei

Everyone Isn’t Going to College

Everyone isn’t going to college.

Consider this my own little Public Service Announcement: Every kid who is graduating from high school right now is not going to college. Sure, lots of them are, but lots of them aren’t, and we need to be mindful of that.

If you encounter a high school senior in the next month or so, don’t ask them where they’re going to college. In fact, don’t ask that question, even if you know they are going to college. Some of those who are going are struggling with the decision. And the ones who aren’t going to college, I’m sure, get tired of that question. Why do we now assume everyone is going to college?!? For some of them, college is not the best option, for any number of reasons…and we need to remember that.

So next time you encounter a high school senior, I recommend you ask, “What are your plans after graduation?” If they are going to technical school, they can tell you all about that. If they are going into a branch of the military, they will be thrilled to tell you about that. If they are going to college and know which one they are attending, they can share that information with you. And if they haven’t decided on a college yet, they can say, “I’m still deciding where I want to go to college.”

But remember…everyone isn’t going to college.

Mike Rowe, one of my favorite celebrities ever, because he is real and tells it like it is, is a big proponent of technical schools for young people. Some people need to learn a trade or a skill. Many of those people who become plumbers, electricians, carpenters, welders, or HVAC repairmen will quickly start making money and socking it away in the bank while college students and their parents are still shelling out boatloads of money for a college education…sometimes, one that doesn’t make the student any more employable. Lots of those vocations are needed. Lots of people can walk right into a good-paying job if they have the necessary skills. (If you’re not familiar with Mike Rowe, he is the host of Dirty Jobs, a television show about real jobs in this country, and he is also the author of a great book called The Way I Heard It. I read the book in the early days of the pandemic, about this time two years ago, and it was worthwhile, easy reading. Pick up a copy if you like reading good stories. You can order from Amazon here.)

Ultimately, my goal as a parent is to help my daughter become an independent adult who makes a contribution to society. Does that mean I expect her to become the next gazillionaire? No. It means I want her to be able to support herself in a way that works for her, and I want her to feel like she is doing something to make life better for other people too. Is my goal for her to be “happy”? Of course, I want her to be happy, but I think we are happiest when we are independent contributors to society…so it all goes together. Do I think she will be financially independent right after college? Maybe…maybe not. What I want for her is personal independence. I want her to know she is in charge of her own life and her own destiny. I want her to know how to function in the world…and how to ask questions when she needs to ask questions. I want her to know she doesn’t know everything, but as long as she knows where and how to find out what she wants/needs to know, she’ll be good. She leaves for college in August, and I am excited for her.

But while she is going to class and enjoying college life, there will be lots of kids who graduate from high school at the same time who immediately go to work. Some of them might be entrepreneurs. Some might be inventors. Some might go into a family business. Does the fact that they don’t go to college make them “less than”? No. It simply means they are choosing a different path.

So just like we applaud these kids’ college choices, let’s applaud those who make other choices. Let’s be happy for the kid who opts to join the military. Let’s celebrate the kid who has always known he wanted to be a welder, and he is finally going to technical school to learn that skill. Let’s be excited for the girl who is on her way to cosmetology school.

Let’s be thankful we live somewhere that people can make their own choices.