Get set for next year but do take a break

 Christmas roses outside a store in Montreal

Due to the fact that the sale of air tickets will soon end - Qatar and Emirates sales will end next week - I bought our 2017 tickets yesterday. I did not know this beforehand, but one piece of important information that you need to know when trying to book by combining miles and cash, is that if one part or leg of the itinerary is not provided by your preferred airline,  you cannot use your miles to pay. We have a short leg from Los Angeles to Seattle and the service provider is not Emirates but Air Alaska. And we cannot use our miles to book the other legs. Fortunately, we will also fly to Toronto with no other short legs, so we will be able to use our miles to book that flight. We used Emirates because the fly to more destinations than Qatar, and we get better service due to our higher loyalty status with Emirates but I am still investigating a few other options for the flights later next year. 

Remember to also research and book your hotel stays and airport transfers. And also the extra tours if needed. I have a notebook (yes even in the computer age note books do have a purpose), in which I write the entire itinerary, including all the booking reference numbers and also indicate if the booking is already paid or not. This small book fits into my backpack and I can easily refer to it when at the airport for the reference number of the shuttle or the hotel. 

Academic life is coming to a standstill for a while over the Christmas and New Year festive time. The university closed at noon today and those of us who are planning to do some academic work will have to do it from home or on our lap tops from where we will be. As usual, most academics have to work on abstracts, overdue articles or research that just never get done in time. May your work be successful and may you also have a wonderful time with your loved ones during this festive season.