What Could Be Better Than This? An August 2024 Trip Report including Saint Augustine and WDW UPDATE 10/17/25

[Draco0801]

Awesome! It sounds like you have lived in Massachusetts most of your life! Not too unlike my living situation of 33 years so far, as I lived in New York for the first 24.5-years of my life with the first year in Brooklyn and the next 23.5-years in Westbury on Long Island. I moved to Florida with my Mother just under 9-years ago and it doesn't look like we're going anywhere. I have passed through New Bedford and that area, along with Mattapoisett is beautiful! Boston is very cool too and it is also pretty amazing that we both work in travel related industries, especially as you mentioned working for Starwood, which was taken over by Marriott sometime in the late 2010s if I am not mistaken. How did you like working at Logan Airport and at the hotel? I love working in front-facing customer service at my hotel! I am blessed that I found my current workplace, especially being that it is my first and only hotel I have worked at (I worked in retail prior to this but was let go due to COVID-19 at the end of 2020.). Wonderful that you are loving FL too it is a wonderful place for sure!

Yup Born and Raised New Englander! Loved Logan airport but the traffic getting in and out! Freind of mine at the time worked at Westin @ I switched jobs till I moved out of Boston (too expensive and as it was I had 2 roommates) back to New Bedford but then I kept working for Starwood but reservations which was phone work, but it did not work for me I Liked being front with customer service but Starwood sold to Marriott and I took an office job till we moved here. I was going to work at hotel but the pay versus what I get working in an office is much more! hope to hear more of you trip !

 

[disneywlf]

Yup Born and Raised New Englander! Loved Logan airport but the traffic getting in and out! Freind of mine at the time worked at Westin @ I switched jobs till I moved out of Boston (too expensive and as it was I had 2 roommates) back to New Bedford but then I kept working for Starwood but reservations which was phone work, but it did not work for me I Liked being front with customer service but Starwood sold to Marriott and I took an office job till we moved here. I was going to work at hotel but the pay versus what I get working in an office is much more! hope to hear more of you trip !

Very cool @Draco0801 ! I bet working at Logan Airport was cool as it is nonstop stimulation and no two days are the same, but oof, I believe it about the traffic! It can be like that getting into JFK Airport sometimes, especially if you take the Van Wyck Expressway (I-678), which is notorious for traffic jams, even by New York Area standards! Westins are very nice properties and I am sure it was some amazing times working there, especially in a city like Boston where there is so much action. I don't blame you for moving out of Boston due to expense though and with two roommates to boot! I have heard a parking space for living in Boston is as pricey as real estate in Florida. Sheesh! I don't blame you for not liking solely phone work as much as front customer service, as it lacks the stimulation of front customer service by comparison. Was the office job still with Marriott or was it another industry? I respect your decision for wanting to take a job that pays a lot more and I have no doubt you find happiness with your job. I still love being in front facing customer service at my hotel and G-d willing, I will stay and grow in my position as I am very happy with it! Thank you so much hoping to have an installment up sometime today. Please stay tuned

 

[Draco0801]

Very cool @Draco0801 ! I bet working at Logan Airport was cool as it is nonstop stimulation and no two days are the same, but oof, I believe it about the traffic! It can be like that getting into JFK Airport sometimes, especially if you take the Van Wyck Expressway (I-678), which is notorious for traffic jams, even by New York Area standards! Westins are very nice properties and I am sure it was some amazing times working there, especially in a city like Boston where there is so much action. I don't blame you for moving out of Boston due to expense though and with two roommates to boot! I have heard a parking space for living in Boston is as pricey as real estate in Florida. Sheesh! I don't blame you for not liking solely phone work as much as front customer service, as it lacks the stimulation of front customer service by comparison. Was the office job still with Marriott or was it another industry? I respect your decision for wanting to take a job that pays a lot more and I have no doubt you find happiness with your job. I still love being in front facing customer service at my hotel and G-d willing, I will stay and grow in my position as I am very happy with it! Thank you so much hoping to have an installment up sometime today. Please stay tuned

I got out of the hospitality career here in FL wages were a big cut from MA, and the bigger hotels are at the beach which is a pain to get too traffic wise so now I work for a home building supply company, but I do work customer service and I love it.

 

[disneywlf]

I got out of the hospitality career here in FL wages were a big cut from MA, and the bigger hotels are at the beach which is a pain to get too traffic wise so now I work for a home building supply company, but I do work customer service and I love it.

I definitely understand your wanting to get out of the hospitality industry in FL, as like you mentioned, it could definitely be a big cut from MA. Tell me about it with traffic to the beach sometimes, especially with the drawbridges over the Intracoastal Waterway from the mainland to the barrier islands. In Delray Beach by me, it usually isn't too bad as there are three roads that access the beach, with those three roads from north to south being George Bush Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue (FL-806), and Linton Boulevard. I don't want to reveal information wage wise, but I will say that my job, which is at a midsize property, comes with a lot of benefits. Just out of curiosity, I looked at wages for my position on Long Island near where I used to live and it is only slightly more. Additionally, thanks to state income tax (no state income tax in FL Thank G-d!) and a higher cost of living in NY, any slight wage increase would be blunted by the higher cost of living versus FL. Working in the home building supply industry is fabulous too, as with everyone moving down to Florida, especially post-2020, they are building like crazy, so you picked an excellent industry! Loving your job is the best feeling for sure!