Triangle Trip

Following up to my Guide to see New York in a day post, I would like to share some local insight with my readers on how they can see more of the East coast when they are visiting New York City. If you’re staying in NYC for more than a few days, I highly recommend you visit nearby cities like Philadelphia (100 miles away), Boston (200 miles away), and our nation’s capital Washington DC (230 miles away). Instead of spending $300 on a plane ticket, $150 on a round trip Amtrak train ticket, $100 a day on a rental car, or even $75 on a round trip Greyhound bus ticket, vacationers/tourists can take an independently owned and operated bus from New York City’s Chinatown for $10 to $25 one-way to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

There are a number of bus companies that operate out of NYC’s Chinatown and buses depart from a number locations every hour. Here are a few bus companies with links to their websites: Fung Wah, Apex, and New Century. These buses all operate from NYC’s Chinatown which is located in Downtown Manhattan. All buses drop you off at each destination city’s (Boston, Philadephia and Washington DC) Chinatown — which is also located in the destination city’s downtown. If you’re dropped off at Boston’s Chinatown, you are within walking distances from Fannel Hall. When you’re dropped off at Philadephia’s Chinatown, you are within walking distance from the Liberty Bell. If you’re at DC’s Chinatown, you are minutes away from the White House.

Vacationers can do a day trip to each of the cities by leaving first thing in the morning and returning late in the evening. Detailed schedules are available on the bus companies’ sites. The best part of traveling by bus is you do not need a car at the destination cities. The best way to see Boston, Philly and DC is by foot, especially during this time of year!

Good article from the Wall Street Journal regarding the recent flurry of elite qualifying mileage promotions:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966495750415057.html

Here’s Triangle Trip’s recent post regarding Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM or MQM for Delta).

I had issues connecting my AT&T VPN client using my Sprint broadband card as my internet service provider. The Sprint connection would drop right after I am connected to the VPN. I searched the AT&T VPN client site and forums but couldn’t find an answer. I also contacted Sprint but their technical support is pathetic.

After trying different configuration settings on the Sprint SmartView client, I finally got the AT&T VPN client to be connected to the Sprint network. This may seem easy to folks with adequate documentation from their IT staff but I was working as a consultant with limited resources. Hence I am sharing my findings with my readers.

Here are step by step instructions to get the AT&T VPN client up and running on your Sprint mobile broadband:

1.  On your SmartView Settings, make sure you have selected: “Use this as my default Wi-Fi management utility”

2.  Go to the “Rules Engine Tab” (see picture below)

3.  Under:  “Use only specified device” –> SELECT: Mobile (this is optional if you have a more user friendly WIFI management utility)

4.  Under:   “When Automatically Switching Technologies” –> SELECT: “Keep Previous Connection Open”

5.  Under:  “Connection Maintenance” –> SELECT:  “Maintain established connection regardless of other network availability”