Over six months have passed and I think I can finally talk about my worst trip to date. I can tell you the exact moment the norovirus hit me on my last trip to Europe. I was walking into a hotel in the Frankfurt Airport, ready to go home the next day after dealing with a Croatian sailing trip from hell, and then something didn’t feel right. Within the hour, the bathroom became my best friend and I thought it was very possible Germany would be the last country I would ever see. I'll need to back up a bit. My husband and I decided to take advantage of an offer from a sailing company to write Continue Reading
Could This Be The Perfect Travel Tote? A Look at The Lo and Sons O.G. Bag
The search has been long and hard. It has produced broken straps, bags that couldn’t withstand the contents and that lingering feeling that something was missing. There weren’t enough compartments. I would wish the zipper would go all the way around. After buying what seemed like a $50 tote bag from various chain stores for every trip since I was 18, I finally caved and splurged on the Lo and Sons O.G. bag. Could this finally be the one? A few years ago, I posed the question, “Where art thou perfect travel tote bag?” Many others joined in on their troubles of locating the perfect bag for Continue Reading
Stop and Smell The Roses: A Pinrose Travel Perfume Review and Giveaway
Scents latch on to memory with a firm grip, leaving us lingering in places long after we have left them. While photographs are all fine and well to remember where we have been, I tend to find the scent I was wearing while on the road one of the best ways to remember the places I have been. Like magic, that scent transforms from liquid in a bottle to the fastest flight of my life. I am put back in Greece for a moment or the Southern U.S. depending on what I wear on any regular Tuesday. At the same time, traveling with scents isn’t always a walk in the park. Big bottles of perfume are either Continue Reading
Spain By The Parador
In a quiet corner of La Mancha, we arrive to our accommodations for the night, a 16th century convent. Our rental car dips beneath an archway and instantly grumbles. The stones below the tires are old and bumpy, producing a sound only medieval stones can. We park in the courtyard, next to a bubbling fountain. Some other guests are arriving at the same time of the gray hair variety. The couple takes one look at my husband and I in wonder. “What are these young people doing staying in such grand digs?,” they seem to say. Tonight we aren't staying in a crumbling guesthouse, hostel or budget Continue Reading
The Long Way Around: Rookie Car Rental Mistakes To Avoid in Europe
We picked up our car rental in Rome from a double-parked position. I should have known this was in fact a metaphor for my car rental experience in Europe this summer. Having rented vehicles in Ireland, Italy and Germany before, I figured that I had the process down. Hidden expenses and catastrophes along the way wouldn’t surprise me. As we jumped in our rented wheels in the middle of Rome’s swarming chaos, I knew right from the first seat belt click, we were already making rookie rental car mistakes in Europe. To prevent seasoned pros and also rental car rookies in the truest sense from making Continue Reading
The Rule of 7: How I Am Fashionably Carrying On For Three Months in Europe
The first time I traveled to Europe for an extensive period of time, I brought two large suitcases, a small duffle bag and a large tote. Since those early days of over-packing, each time I head to Europe for more than a month, I try to pair down how much I carry. Lugging suitcases on trains, planes and across cobbled cities while dodging tour groups is every traveler’s hellish, sweaty nightmare. Those condensed packing lists advising to just pack two T-shirts, one tank top, three dresses and four pairs of underwear aren’t up any sort of alley I want to be on in the first place. Traveling Continue Reading
To Cube or Not To Cube? Revelations on Packing Cubes
When I first used packing cubes, my motives were for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to bring more without taking up the extra space. I would load up packing cubes until they seemed more like packing bowling balls, heavy and cumbersome. At times I worried they would burst open due to the overloading. As these cubes ended up being more of a hindrance, I wrote off packing cubes, concluding they were actually space hoarders and that simple and careful placement of items in a bag could allow you to bring more instead. As I prepare to spend three months in Europe this summer, I am Continue Reading