travel advisor tips Archives | Beacon & Burgundy Travel

I waited 3 days for my suitcase. Now I tag everything.

The carousel at my home airport stopped moving, and my suitcase wasn’t on it. That moment is a big part of why I pack AirTags for travel now.

I stood there a few extra minutes anyway (you know the move, staring at the rubber flaps like your bag might still pop through). It didn’t. It was sitting in Philadelphia.

My 50-minute layover there had shrunk to 20 after a delay. In those 20 minutes I had to deplane, ride the tram, and hustle to my next gate. I made it. My bag didn’t.

I live 30 minutes from the airport. It took 3 days to get my luggage back.

This was years ago, before AirTags were around, so all I could do was wait. What finally got me tracking my stuff was a broken-down shuttle bus at Disney.

The shuttle bus that broke down

Traveling is stressful enough. Bring a baby along and your anxiety goes up about 10 times over.

On our way home from Walt Disney World, my husband and I were on a shuttle from our resort to the airport with our 9-month-old daughter. We still had other resorts to stop at and more passengers to pick up.

And then the bus broke down.

It happens. We waited for a relief bus, everyone moved over, and we got back on the road. What none of us caught was that the strollers never made it onto the new bus.

One family had an AirTag on theirs, and their phone let them know right away. They told our driver, and he worked with the shuttle company to meet up with the other driver and get it back.

Turns out our stroller had been left behind too. We had no idea. Without that family’s AirTag, we would have pulled up to the airport with a 9-month-old and no stroller, and found out right there at the curb.

That was the day AirTags became part of how we travel.

Where my AirTags go when I travel

These days, anything I’d panic about losing gets one:

My luggage
My daughter’s stroller
My passport
My laptop

The passport one gets a few raised eyebrows. But it’s the one thing on that list that can stop a trip cold if it goes missing, so it gets tracked too.

Why I tell clients to use AirTags for travel

I always recommend my clients put an AirTag in their luggage, whatever kind of trip they’re taking.

Cruises are a good example. On embarkation day, you hand your checked bags to the porters at the pier, and you won’t see them again until they show up outside your stateroom, sometimes hours later. Most of the time that works fine. But being able to check on your bag from your phone during that stretch is real peace of mind.

And if you’re flying in to meet the ship, a bag stuck at a connecting airport matters even more. The ship sails on schedule whether your suitcase is on it or not.

What AirTags can’t do for you

I love these things, and I still want you going in with realistic expectations.

You probably can’t check on your bag mid-flight. Unless you have Wi-Fi on the plane, your phone can’t pull up an update in the air. The good part: as soon as you land and your phone reconnects, you’ll have current info before you even start the walk to baggage claim. That’s a lot better than what I got in Philly, which was a belt that stopped moving.

The airline still has to bring your bag to you. An AirTag tells you exactly where your suitcase is, and that’s where its job ends. If it’s sitting in another airport, you’re still waiting on the airline to put it on a flight and get it to your door. At least you won’t be guessing while you wait.

2 more things to do before you leave

While you’re waiting on the airline, you want to make their job as easy as possible. These 2 habits help them know exactly which bag they’re looking for.

Take photos of your luggage, inside and out. If a bag does go missing, you’ll have a visual reference to show the airline, plus a record of what you packed.

Always use a luggage tag, and take a photo of that too. That way the info on it is saved on your phone right next to the pictures of your bag.

And for the waiting period after a bag goes missing, that’s where travel insurance comes in. It’s getting its own post soon.

Planning for the bumps

Buses break down and connections get squeezed to 20 minutes. Part of my job is getting you ready for the bumps before you ever leave home, and a little AirTag (plus a few photos on your phone) is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to do it.

If you’re starting to think about your next adventure, reach out. I’ll take the research and the details off your plate (including reminding you to pack your AirTags) so you can just pack your bags and go.

May adventure follow you wherever you may go.

3am, a volcano, and the trip my clients still talk about

“The 2am wake up call was totally worth it!! The tour guides were awesome, we learned a lot and it was so beautiful.”

That came in from an anniversary couple I’d sent to Maui, a few hours after they watched the sunrise from the summit of Haleakala. I’ve booked this excursion more times than I can count, and I still grin every time a client’s text comes in still buzzing from it.

Here’s what nobody tells you before you book a sunrise tour on a volcano: it starts in the middle of the night, and if you don’t plan it right, that 2am alarm turns into the worst part of your trip instead of the best.

Why the wake-up call is earlier than you think

Pickup is usually around 3am, though it shifts depending on where your resort sits on the island. If you’re staying in Wailea, you’re looking at a different pickup window than someone in Kaanapali. That’s not a detail most people think to ask about until they’re staring at their alarm clock wondering why it says 2:45.

I book these through Viator, and I always tell clients the same thing: reserve this early. Spots at the summit are limited by the National Park Service, and this tour does sell out, sometimes weeks out during peak season. I’ve had clients wait too long and lose their preferred date entirely.

The timing mistake I see over and over

Here’s the call I make as their advisor that most people wouldn’t think to make themselves: I recommend booking Haleakala at the beginning of the trip, not the end.

It sounds backwards. You’d think you’d want to ease into a 2am wake-up after a few days of relaxing. But it’s the opposite. Early in the trip, your body’s still running on your home time zone, so 2am doesn’t feel like 2am yet. Wait until day 5 or 6, and you’re asking someone who’s finally adjusted to Hawaii time to blow that up for a pre-dawn drive up a mountain. That’s when people bail, or drag themselves up there miserable.

Who this is actually right for

This isn’t for every client. If someone’s trip is built around sleeping in and doing as little as possible, I’m not pushing this on them. But for clients who tell me they want one experience from the trip that they’ll never forget, this is usually the one I bring up first.

My anniversary couple fit that description exactly. They wanted Maui to feel different from every other vacation they’d taken, and standing above the clouds watching the sun come up over a volcano does that in a way a resort pool never will.

What I’m actually doing when you book this with me

Anyone can find a Haleakala sunrise tour with a quick search. What they won’t find is someone checking their resort location against pickup times, watching the reservation calendar before it fills up, and telling them flat out to book it day one instead of day four so they actually enjoy it.

If Maui’s on your list and you want that “I can’t believe we did that” moment, this is where I’d start. Reach out and I’ll get it locked in at the right point in your trip, before it books up.

May adventure follow you wherever you may go.

The “No Seaweed” Beach Question I Get Asked Constantly (And Why the Answer Isn’t Simple)

“Allie, where can I go with a gorgeous beach, calm blue water, and no seaweed?”

I hear some version of this question from clients almost every week. And I wish I could give a one-word answer — but the truth is, it depends. Sargassum, the brown seaweed that’s been making headlines across the Caribbean and Mexico in recent years, isn’t evenly distributed. It’s driven by currents, wind direction, and which way a beach happens to face. Two beaches on the same island, ten minutes apart, can have completely different conditions on the same day. It’s one of the first things I check before I send a client a quote, because a gorgeous resort on the wrong side of an island can still mean a disappointing beach day.

2026 is actually shaping up to be one of the heavier sargassum years on record in parts of the Caribbean and Mexico. But that doesn’t mean your beach adventure is off the table — it just means where you go matters more than ever. So instead of guessing, here are six beaches I consistently point clients toward when calm, clear, seaweed-free water is the priority.

1. Eagle Beach, Aruba

Aruba sits south of the hurricane belt and largely outside the main sargassum current, which is why Eagle Beach keeps its postcard-perfect reputation year after year, even in tougher regional years. The water here is famously calm and shallow near shore, which makes it a favorite for both honeymooners and families. Bonus: Aruba’s trade winds keep things breezy and comfortable even in peak summer heat.

2. Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos

Grace Bay is routinely ranked among the best beaches in the world, and its north-facing orientation helps deflect the sargassum that piles up on more exposed, wind-facing coastlines nearby. The sand is soft and powder-white, the water clarity is extraordinary, and it’s an easy add-on if you’re combining a beach stay with time in the Bahamas or Florida.

3. Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman’s location puts it largely out of the direct path of major sargassum influxes, and Seven Mile Beach delivers exactly the calm, clear water travelers picture when they imagine a Caribbean adventure. It’s also wonderfully easy to get around, with restaurants, resorts, and water activities all within walking distance of the sand.

4. Mambo Beach, Curaçao

Curaçao sits close to the Venezuelan coast, well outside the primary sargassum belt, which keeps beaches like Mambo consistently clear even during peak season elsewhere. If your clients love snorkeling or diving, this is a great pick — the water is calm and shallow, and it’s set up with easy access to restaurants and bars right along the beach.

5. Isla Mujeres (Playa Norte), Mexico

For clients who have their hearts set on Mexico specifically, Isla Mujeres is my go-to. It’s a quick ferry ride from Cancún, but its geography protects it far better than the mainland’s open Atlantic-facing beaches, and Playa Norte has stayed one of the most consistently clean stretches of sand in the region even during the region’s heaviest sargassum stretches this year.

6. Frederiksted, St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands)

This one’s a favorite for clients who want the calm, clear-water Caribbean experience without the extra step of a passport. Frederiksted sits on St. Croix’s leeward side, which keeps it less exposed than beaches facing the open Atlantic, and as a U.S. territory, it’s one of the simplest islands to get to for domestic travelers.

The Real Secret

Here’s what I tell every client who asks this question: the destination matters, but so does when you go and which side of the island your resort sits on. Sargassum season generally peaks in the summer months, and conditions can shift in as little as 48 hours depending on wind and currents. That’s exactly the kind of detail that’s hard to track from a booking site, but it’s the kind of thing I check before I ever send a client a quote.

The beaches above are my starting point, not the finish line — the specific resort, the side of the island, and even the week you travel can change the picture. If a calm, clear-water adventure is what you’re after, reach out and I’ll match you to the spot that’s actually delivering it right now.