January's Client of the Month is a good friend of mine, Keira R.  Keira is an educator, a wife, a mom, and runs the blog, Bad As A Mother.  When you are that busy, you have to make sure that the vacations you take are well-planned and to amazing places.  Keira's trip to Ireland ticked both of those boxes.

Ireland happens to be a favorite place of mine.  With it's beautiful countryside, ancient castles, friendly people, and Guinness and Jameson, it's got something for everyone!  Here are some of the highlights of Keira's trip.

We made it to Dublin but it was a little later than planned.  Here’s what was on our initial itinerary for our two days in Dublin:

Day One:
The Book of Kells and the Old Library
Pat Liddy’s walking tour
The HOHO (hop on, hop off) Bus
Christ Church or St Patrick’s Cathedral
The Guinness Storehouse

Day Two:
Newgrange
Kilmainhaim Gaol
A ghost walk

What actually happened was a little different and reminded me how important it is to be flexible when you travel.  Thanks to a malfunctioning cargo door, we landed back in New York 45 minutes after we took off.  A couple of hours later, we had a new plane and were finally on our way.  Instead of landing around 7 am, we landed around 10.  The other wrench in our plan was that there was a protest march against a new tax on water that basically shut down all of the transportation options in the city center.  Because of our delayed arrival, I knew we would have to make some changes.  What follows is what we actually did while in Dublin.

After a solid ten hours of sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed and ready for our first full day in Ireland.  After a delicious breakfast at The Shelbourne, we decided to try our luck at the sightseeing bus again.

When you decide to travel from the US to Europe, you will likely have a couple of options.  Leave in the evening, fly overnight and land in the morning OR leave in the morning, fly all day and land in the evening.  I personally would rather book the overnight flight or red eye.  I see it as getting an extra day of vacation.  You can leave late on a Friday night, land early on Saturday and have most of the day at your destination or you can leave on a Saturday morning, land Saturday night and have time to find your hotel and maybe grab a bite to eat.

However, it's no surprise that red eyes are not fun.  I can usually catch a nap on a plane without a problem but there is a big difference between a nap and trying to get close to a full nights sleep.  A coach seat on any airplane is a far cry from the Ritz Carlton but there are ways to make your experience a little better.  This is an overview of what has worked for me.