This week’s photo challenge, Repurpose, is inspiring me to share an object I’ve repurposed, and continue to use every day in my travels throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Traveling doesn’t afford the luxury of taking any object in your possession for granted. Each and every piece that you carry with you is evaluated on the basis of size and weight. And if either of those measurements outweighs its worth in any capacity, that object has got to go.
Until I began traveling full-time, I loved “stuff.” While I wasn’t anywhere near the hoarder level of holding on to stuff, indeed, I couldn’t throw away a postcard or a receipt if my life depended on it. My idea of a fun weekend activity was going to a home-decor store and picking up a throw-pillow, or two. Or maybe a doorstop. Or a fruit bowl.
Nowadays, that life couldn’t be more foreign to me. I don’t even own a pillow, let alone a closet. I work as an educational travel coordinator, and I live from hotel room to hotel room, and when I’m lucky, my parent’s spare bedroom. If I want it, I have to lug it. But therein lies the rub: I can’t give up my passion for fashion. So, despite the fact that I live on the road, I continue to have a lot of clothes, shoes and accessories.
My accessories were a mangled mess, tangled and mixed up to the point that I was only wearing three or four pairs of my own earrings. Yet, I continued to lug around the whole collection. What a waste of energy, and potential fashion opportunity.
The solution came not a moment too soon from my pioneering, Pinterest-loving, high school friend Giovanna. Over brunch one Saturday she said, “Peggy! Haven’t you seen my travel board? Pill organizers!”
And the rest, my friends, is history. My ears are no longer neglected when I’m traveling.
When I started this blog, Gracefully Global, I meant it as an evolving study on how to be a traveler, gracefully. That is, to cherish and respect the cultures that we come upon as we learn about and interact with the world through our traveling ways. Somehow, the political turmoil of this month has felt like a big slap in the face for many of us who value other cultures and exploration, no matter what our political identity. In the face of the daily barrage of political news and the persistently changing landscape of our government, I almost feel like I should be cutting up my passport and never leaving my house again. Luckily my passport is still intact, as, surprisingly, I’ve experienced some major positives as an outcome of the events over the last few weeks that I never would have seen coming. Two positives, in particular, are keeping me motivated and steadfast in my beliefs and in working to maintain my optimism for whats to come. So I’d like to share them with you.
I feel connected.
Marching together and writing postcards together! The fight continues. 🙂
The fact that I am writing this post now is a testament to the higher engagement I’ve experienced online and in person over the last few weeks, connecting with friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike. Not to say all of the connections have been positive, but they have all certainly been illuminating. Life somehow feels more interesting when you delve down a bit deeper to what makes each other tick, doesn’t it? And with connection, and a deeper understanding, it seems the sky is the limit on what could happen next.
The standout occasion for this connectedness was, of course, the women’s march, an incredible wash of positive energy, and a unique, historical moment of togetherness. Peaceful and optimistic, women of all shapes, sizes, ages, religions, politics, you name it. We were all there, and even better, we all seem to agree on the quality of this experience. I made a video about our experience at the San Diego march.
And the connectedness continues. I read a Vogue article about advocacy that I immediately trivialized as being too “beginner” in its advice. But really, it was perfect. It suggested that we organize groups of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances to work together on political advocacy goals. I don’t know why I originally thought of the article as overly simplistic. A few hours saturated with of frustrating political news later was all it took to change that thought, as I was fired up and the Vogue article suddenly seemed genius. I reached out to some friends, and we’ve already had our first meeting!
My college roomie holding up her stack of postcards.
The friends that agreed to participate in these meetings are the women from each of my life’s major adventures that have stood out as the no-nonsense, powerful, empathetic, energetic, intelligent people that made life feel better. We met in a cozy, neighborhood café in San Diego. There were a few new faces, friends of friends, who I was thrilled to welcome. We enjoyed our food, and rolled up our sleeves and started writing Women’s March postcards to our political representatives. We cracked jokes and strategised. Laughed and shouted (the café staff were really patient with us, thankfully). It was exactly what we needed, after starting the evening feeling rather helpless and overwhelmed, politically, and each leaving that evening with a stack of postcards covered in the ink of our thoughts and concerns, and addressed to each of our political representatives. If meeting together these ten times for the 10 Actions/100 Days movement serves only to give me a bellyache from a good laugh and some updates from my favorite people, then so be it. That would still be a win in my book. And, ironically, the action for the current 10 Days is forming huddles, just as we have done, which we realized on the night of our meeting.
Writing postcards to our political reps!
The other equally significant outcome of this rollercoaster of a month is something that I never saw coming: I feel comfortable calling myself a feminist again.
As much as I’ve changed as a person over the last few decades, I’m realizing that I really haven’t changed that much. I’m still that gal that took gender studies my freshman year of college, and started making my own t-shirts in the first versions of Photoshop with whatever deep feminist theory was on my mind at the time. Which I wore to the annual feminist theatre production I produced at UCSD. As I’ve increased in age, I’ve learned to “tone in down.”
My beloved godmother. Let’s just say, this wasn’t even close to being her first march.
I can’t put my finger on exactly what caused my current change of heart. I surmise that Hillary, Pantsuit Nation, and our participation in the largest protest on American soil – a women’s march – has something to do with it. I hope that feminism can now achieve for politics what it once was criticized for not achieving for itself: bringing together women of every background, united in our quest for ethically minded government leadership.
That’s the lemonade I’ve managed to squeeze so far, and I’m expecting a lot more of it to come. So I hope to have many other positives to share, soon, as well as more reports from our meetings! In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Have you felt more connected, more feminist, or anything else that is personally positive? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
I wrote this piece to join others in the WordPress hosted conversation, Speak Out.
My wonderful friend Lindsay, who made the trip to Washington.
As the host of the oldest university in the western world, Bologna has been a second home for young people from across Europe for centuries. And with the saturation of young people comes the inevitable nightlife of those who don’t have morning meetings and people depending on them to make breakfast.
I’m one of those students that made my pilgrimage to Bologna, only to be charmed by the nighttime energy of this city. Only in Bologna does coming home at 3am on a Saturday night feel early. After five years of this, I’ve finally learned to prioritize my favorite places, and cut my nights short so I actually come home before sunrise. Sometimes.
The energy of the city is visceral, and therefore photographable. Instead of always wasting my nights away in laughter and Italian wine, I’ve started shooting instead. Or at least, taking a few minutes to shoot on my way home, ha! My new lens is a f/1.8, and the results have been fantastic. I hope you enjoy my meanderings through the streets of Bologna, seen below. And stay tuned for a vlog coming soon, featuring interviews with Bologna’s best bartenders!
As I continue on with my late-summer East Coast travels – which will soon turn into my early-fall Italy travels – I’m barreling on with my vlog production, hoping to bring at least one of these to you per week. This particular vlog is near and dear to my heart: it documents a special weekend trip to a family mountain home in the Catskills that has been an annual occasion for more than ten years. But decades before this group made the tradition, it was the summer home of my friend’s great-grandparents, who were the matriarch and patriarch of a great family and legends in their own right.
I felt fortunate to be included this year with this group of friends, many who have known each other since childhood. Some of them see each other regularly throughout the year, and some become reacquainted just once a year here in Callicoon. I came to get to know them through a close friend from graduate school and his husband at the annual get-together this past Labor Day, and I felt both totally included and like an observer all at once. Which makes for better vlogging, in the end. Hope you enjoy our trip through Labor Day in the Catskills.
I feel like I have nine lives on WordPress: I disappear for a while, but I always manage to make it back. While some of my favorite alone time is spent reading blogs on WordPress, I’ve jumped into the world of education travel coordination with CISabroad, and coordinating faculty-led university student tours of Italy takes every last bit of energy out of me and leaves no time for blogging. That being said, I love my new job, and as I travel I’m developing more perspective and knowledge on what’s out there to share with you all.
I’m elated that I’ve finally gotten a little break from work, and last week I went to visit the home office of CISabroad, which is located in the beautiful college town of Northampton, MA. I have a beautiful new iPhone now with lots of memory (since I dropped the last one on its face and it lives no more), and I’m taking advantage of the great new lens on this iPhone and plenty of storage to start vlogging, as I’ve been aspiring to do for years. So here it is, friends, my first vlog in several years. Hope it takes you into the world of beautiful Northampton. And I hope you enjoy it! Here’s to many more…
Today is a special day in Italy. A holiday from work, a day spent relaxing with family and friends, enjoying the new season of warmer weather, and remembering the close of a dark period in Italian history.
The Cineteca’s Instagram account from this week posted historical photos of these days 71 years ago, including this huge crowd on the streets in the center of Bologna.
April 25 is known in Italy as the Anniversario della Liberazione d’Italia, or the Anniversario della Resistenza. It was during these last weeks of April, 71 years ago, that one by one the cities of Northern Italy successfully renounced 20 years of fascist dictatorship, and five years of war. A friend of mine equated it to the 4th of July in the United States, as what was happening 71 years ago in Italy created the momentum for what would officially become Italy as we know it today, the Italian Republic, when the constitution was signed in 1948.
A day of sunshine in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna. This is where some of today’s festivities take place, and where they took place the very first time.
As an ex-patriot living in Italy, these holidays always catch me by surprise. Growing up in your own culture, holidays are tied to so many memories and anticipating them is second nature. But when you are living outside of your culture, none of these triggers exist and life from one day to the next is just one huge learning lesson.
Late afternoon sun in Piazza Maggiore.
Even though I’ve lived in Bologna for several years already, I’m still learning. I just found out from a friend that Bologna is an important destination for Italians celebrating this holiday. The city is full today – it is very exciting.
As an American, it is hard for me to understand the impact of a war happening in someone’s own backyard, and therefore, the significance of a holiday dedicated to the end of such a war.
Another historical shot from Cineteca’s collection: A happy group celebrating 71 years ago in Piazza Maggiore.
I’ll never forget the afternoon that my English student, a Bologna police officer and a lover of history, showed me something in Bologna’s central square, Piazza Maggiore, that changed the way I look at this hub of activity and concentration of precious architecture in the center of the city.
We took a familiar path toward the piazza, one that I had walked hundreds of times, and he stopped me just as we were stepping up onto the center walkway.
Piazza Maggiore during a night spring rain.
“See here? Where the stone is missing? Do you know why it looks like this?”
I looked around. Strange, he was totally right. There were chunks of stone missing along this shallow curb that I had never noticed. But it wasn’t like that around the whole walkway, as far as I could see.
“Weird, I never notice,” I responded. “Why is it like that?”
“The tanks,” he responded. “From the war. They would damage the stone when they were rolling up onto the curb to go to the center of the piazza.”
From this photo posted by the Cineteca, you can see one of the tanks he must be referencing.
I was flabbergasted. The war seemed so long ago, but this visible damage to the piazza in front of me made it so tangible. “Why didn’t they ever fix it? It has been so long!”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “Maybe they want to remember…”
In honor of today, I paid a visit to that curb, and took this picture. Turns out I wasn’t the only one with this idea. The gentlemen on the left side of the photo were doing the same thing. You can see the same clock tower in the background here as is pictured above the tank in the historical shot.
Visiting the broken curb in Piazza Maggiore today.
I’m discovering a little bit more every day how rich our pasts are, and how much there is to be found just below our footsteps. And most of all, I’m grateful to be included in today’s important festivities on this day of liberation in Italy. Here’s to many more to come!
I have a bit of a guilty conscience about the traveling I do. I think about my carbon footprint growing each time I get on an airplane. Trips to protected national and state parks also weigh on my conscience, reminding me of how fragile these ecosystems are, as their protection comes for a reason. In the same way, time spent on incredible beaches not yet visibly polluted by mankind feels like a luxury, yet at the same time, a responsibility. On the other hand, I am grateful for improvements in transportation that not only help us but also help the environment, like the wonderful train system in Europe, where each train service has a way of reminding me how much more environmentally conscious train travel is in respect to other options.
Overwhelmingly, though, my travels give me a simple love for the world, which I am celebrating today on Earth Day along with many of my fellow bloggers. The diversity and scope of this earth is hard to even compute in a logical way, and I am grateful to have my camera lens to use as a way of sorting through and putting together all of the pieces of our wonderful world.
The first pieces of my discoveries are those moments in my travel adventures that have been so big that they’ve taken my breath away, such as the enormous mountain landscape in the Rocky Mountain National Park,
and these giant trees that seem to almost dwarf the Washington Memorial,
or me emerging from Piazza San Marco and taking in the Adriatic Sea in Venice,
the valley that I love that falls below Assisi, which must have been such an inspiration for St. Francis,
or just a simple bend of the road on Highway 101 south of Santa Barbara that opens a whole other world.
Along with the “wow” moments are the moments of serenity that have given me the time to reflect on just how amazing the world can be, like Ojai’s incredible “Pink Moment” that I’m lucky to witness every year at the Ojai Playwrights Conference,
or the island of Ponza’s incredible sea,
and the beautiful countryside in the center of Salzburg,
and the equally enjoyable countryside just outside of Ben Wheeler, Texas,
as well as at the Chiemsee lake in Germany,
and Lake Como, Italy,
and at home in El Centro, California.
Perhaps my favorite moments on Earth are the ones that just grab me and make me happy to be alive, almost as if I’ve stepped into a bit of heaven, like here on the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania,
and at these enchanting gardens outside of Castelfranco Veneto,
enjoying lunch with some of my favorite people in the hills of Bologna,
at the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg,
taking in mountains and public art in Trento, Italy,
and the cherry blossoms blooming at Lake Como, Italy.
In addition to all of the glee and appreciation that I get from discovering all there is to appreciate about the world, there are also a lot of times when I am saddened by what I’m seeing happening to the earth. Luckily, I know I’m not alone in my frustration. These moments really overtake me when I’m visiting the big cities on the sea like Naples, where so much of the beauty is obscured by smog and buildings,
or when I’m reminded what’s happening under the sea,
or finding trash covered beaches in Puglia that makes me wonder what our American beaches would look like without the great volunteers and public money that keep them in better shape,
or finding big pieces of waste where you least expect them.
But my travels also show me what we are doing right. I am very respectful of the diligence that many Italians have with recycling all of their trash meticulously. Or the absolute attention that the Austrians give their environments, inside and out. And the hard work of architects to incorporate our necessary buildings into our beautiful environments. When it comes to architecture, I can think of no better example than Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Pennsylvania,
and in Siena, Italy, I experienced a similar harmony which was gorgeous, whether purposeful or not,
and not forgetting about the work of artists like this one on exhibit at Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, who did such a great job of projecting our love and fascination with the creatures under the sea,
or these locals in Cesenatico, Italy, who created their own respect for the sea – the city’s economic livelihood – as a public art display for all to enjoy.
I hope that what has come through the lens of my camera has brought you a little bit of the emotion that these discoveries have brought to me…as well as a little reminder of what Earth Day means and the challenge in and importance of preserving these incredible places. Thanks for reading. 🙂
I learned when I was still nearly a teenager that dream jobs aren’t all they are cut out to be when I landed a much sought-after role as a directing assistant to the directors of the Lion King, the stage musical, in Los Angeles. When I started the job, my memories of walking through Times Square in New York and dreaming about seeing and working on all the Broadway plays were still fresh. It only took three months of an exhausting and somewhat mind-numbing round-the-clock work schedule in Los Angeles preparing for the opening of the Lion King to teach me that there’s always a complement to our dreams: reality.
Fast forward (quite) a few years to just two weeks ago, when I started another dream job joining a team of OPCs who provide on-site program coordination for CISabroad‘s Faculty Led Programs around the world. I was brought on due to my expertise in Italy, and I was offered my first week-long program in Rome, which just ended a week and a half ago. And I’m still trying to catch up on sleep.
Me and my partner in crime and fellow CISabroad OPC Jamie, as we wait for the students and faculty to arrive at the airport.
Ha! Actually, I’m exaggerating. Slightly. When you think about how exhausting it is to be a tourist – being outside on your feet everyday no matter what the weather is like, taking in a million new details and always having to be on your toes because you’re so far from home – and multiply that exhaustion by the amount of people you are responsible for as an on-site coordinator making sure every detail goes as planned for their experience abroad, the math is clear as the exhaustion multiplies very quickly.
But in the end, life is all about balance, right? When I am in a challenging situation, I’ve learned to ask myself: ‘Does the experience and the work outweigh the exhaustion?’ And in this case, the answer is an overwhelming ‘yes.’
This job has given me the opportunity to see the cities that I have visited so often in the past in a whole new light through the perspectives and the knowledge that the students and faculty bring with them to these cities, from something as simple as a student’s comment about how she is surprised at the grand scale of all of the buildings in Rome, to visiting places that I would never have even known existed, let alone gone on my own, thanks to the expertise of the professors and the CISabroad staff that design the travel abroad programs.
Students and faculty crossing the street on a tour of the churches in the center of Rome.
This work is only going to enrich the resources and the stories I get to share with you on Gracefully Global blog, and I’m really looking forward to hearing your feedback on my new job. 🙂
In just a few days I’m heading to Florence to prepare for a program that will be visiting Florence, Ferrara, and Ravenna! I love these cities and I can’t wait to see what the students think of them. And I’m already saving up some extra sleep hours so I’ll be doubly prepared. 😉
Since I’ll be on the road for the next week and a half, I won’t have many updates for you. But in the meantime, here are a few highlights and favorite discoveries from our last program in Rome that maybe you can enjoy for yourself someday:
Students seem dwarfed in size by trees at the Baths of Caracalla during our day trip to the Appia Antica area.
Appia Antica: Via Appia is a historic Roman road that connects Rome with Brindisi in the south, and when I say historic, that’s an understatement. There is so much history to explore in this area outside Rome along the historic Appian Way that it could easily take you all day, including the Catacombs of San Domitilla, the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, the Palace of Maxentius, and a bit of a drive away, the Baths of Caracalla (my personal favorite). The downside to this neighborhood is that it is best reached by car, but there are buses that can take you there. It is worth the investment in a day trip, especially if you like nature, as there is also a great park nearby that is beautiful on a nice day.
Students looking out onto the Forum through the beautiful arcades along the side of the Capitoline Museum.
The Capitoline Museums: I very much enjoyed this group of archaeological and art museums on Capitoline Hill in Rome for reasons other than the artifacts – on one side of the museums (which are all connected but a bit confusing to navigate across) the view of the Forum is amazing, and on the other side of the museums there’s an affordable cafe with a gorgeous terrace where you can sit and enjoy the view of the city. This is a destination for a beautiful, relaxing day – it is never crowded, and you can sit far above the crowds and enjoy the best views of both historical and contemporary Rome. It is also right next to the Victor Emmanuel Monument (note that there is paid admission to go to the top of the monument), so if you want an even more dramatic view of Rome you can head up the monument after you’ve enjoyed lunch at the cafe.
Pope Francis looking wonderful as ever during the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square.
The Papal Audience: On Wednesday mornings, if Pope Francis is in town, he gives an informal service in St. Peter’s Square which is a free, ticketed event, open to anyone who would like to attend. I had no idea what to expect of this experience, and it far outweighed my expectations. It was such a positive experience seeing so many families excitedly waiting to see the Pope and to sense his wonderful spirit as he greeted pilgrims and audiences, and finally to enjoy the peacefulness and spirituality of hearing him speak.
Excited audiences anticipating the Pope’s arrival.
The Pope usually starts greeting audiences around 10am, then speaking around 10:30. There are introductions of groups in attendance in all different languages beginning at 9am. We arrived at 8:45 and we easily found a seat. You have to go through security, and tickets are free but required. We had a difficult time requesting tickets when we went directly to the Vatican, and then we got a tip – if you are American, contact the North American College, which is the U.S. Bishops seminary in Rome at this email address. When we finally contacted them, they were very gracious and helpful and coordinated our tickets right away, and even gave us an orientation in their office so we would know what to expect from the experience. They were truly wonderful, which added to the experience as a whole as being positive in every way. Please note that we attended the papal audience during the early spring. Summer hours and logistics will be different due to demand. The Prati neighborhood: We all stayed in the Prati neighborhood in Rome. As a tourist on my own accord, I never would have thought to stay here. But it was truly a delight. Not only is it well-positioned to reach many of the must-see destinations in Rome like the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo, it is pretty and “orderly” and has very few tourists and many chic bars and restaurants, making dinner after a long day on our feet an easy choice.
Here are our dining favorites in Prati:
For breakfast we loved Vero Cafe (Via Marcantonio Colonna, 30, which is not far from Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Cavour) because of its organic, healthy, and delicious traditional Italian breakfast offerings as well as more hearty American-style bagel breakfast sandwiches. They have a wonderful staff, and also offer to-go cups for coffee and tea, which are a true rarity in Italy.
For lunch, don’t miss the opportunity to try the neighborhood star, Il Gianfornaio (Via Attilio Regolo, 12/A) for an informal meal. They actually have several locations in Rome, so check out their website linked above. They are a bakery, making delicious pizzas and desserts, but are also pros at buffets in general and offer a weekend brunch buffet and a nightly aperitivo buffet. It is a popular, hectic place better for a quick lunch or dessert and coffee, but whatever you end up getting will probably be quite tasty.
Tea and ricotta tart at Il Gianfornaio.
For dinner there was nothing better than the warm, modern basement of Zi Gaetana and a huge, traditional, thin-crust pizza followed by one of their incredible desserts. We also really liked 3Quarti for its traditional menu mixed with some fun surprises and its comfortable, pretty interior (although it is small so a reservation is suggested, otherwise be prepared to wait a bit).
Jamie and I were both exhausted yet determined to make it through dessert because it isn’t every day we can get a dessert like the ones they have at Zi Gaetana.
Packing is a pretty personal experience. Maybe you’re a student, a businessperson, an artist, or a health nut. Whatever is important to you dictates what you need to bring. So instead of giving you a packing list for your next big trip, I’m offering you the packing techniques I’ve adopted over my years of European travel and two international moves. Good packing can reduce your stress during your travels by helping you think through your packing ahead of time and plan for whatever you might need in the new environments you’ll be exploring. If you do happen to be looking for a packing list, there’s a lot out there to choose from, including HER Packing List, which indexes packing lists by type. The lists are focused on women, but certain things are universal, right guys? Please note: This post focuses on trips with international airlines that offer generous baggage allowances. If you are traveling a budget airline between countries in Europe, visit my budget airline post for tips.
1. When it comes to packing, controlling weight is key in order to avoid paying high overweight airline fees and a lot of stress on yourself.
Yes, I’ve been that person sitting on the airport floor in the check-in area, looking like my luggage exploded as I am re-shifting all of my personal items to knock five pounds off the weight of my checked baggage to avoid a $100 fee. This process becomes even worse in a foreign country, where you have to go to a cashier window to pay the excess weight fee, and then stand in line again at the check-in counter with the receipt, risking missing your flight. Here are some tips for avoiding overweight baggage:
Making last-minute luggage shifting outside of JFK on my way to Milan.
Try to limit the amount of shoes you take with you. Shoes are the biggest space and weight hogs.
If you can bear it, wear your heaviest pair of shoes on your flight (you can always take them off during the flight).
Put any non-liquid, heavy items like cameras, shoes, batteries, and even jewelry, in your carry-on if you think you are close to exceeding baggage weight restrictions for your checked baggage.
Make sure you have removed any excess packaging from any items you are traveling with. You’d be surprised how much weight a little extra cardboard, plastic, or glass here and there on a souvenir or cosmetic can add up.
Take a jacket out of your bag, if necessary, and clip it onto your purse or carry-on with a travel jacket clip.
2. If you are flying international and think you might buy a lot of souvenirs, pack a large recyclable grocery bag to use as a carry-on on the way back if necessary.
International flight baggage allowance usually includes two checked bags, a carry-on and personal item (but be sure to double-check the baggage policy before you leave!). If you buy so many souvenirs that you can’t fit them in your luggage, you can always check both the luggage and your carry-on, and then carry-on instead your large recyclable grocery bag. Make sure to transfer your souvenirs to your former carry-on that you are checking (especially if they are liquid!) and your important traveling items to your grocery bag. I know, walking around an airport with a recyclable grocery bag is not the most fashionable solution. But recyclable grocery bags are light-weight and don’t take up much space, and are perfect in this sort of last-minute packing emergency. Needing to buy a new luggage while on vacation in order to get all of your belongings home is not only time-consuming, but can also be pretty expensive.
3. Saving space is important, but space saver bags are only helpful to a point.
Space saver bags are fine, and if they help you get organized, even better. I’m not a big fan because I find the plastic tool that helps you seal the bags often falls off, and the bags become difficult to re-seal, so they become useless. If you are going on a trip that involves a lot of stops/changing of hotels, this is especially annoying. And, needless to say, who has a vacuum on vacation with them? Instead of space saver bags, I organize with inexpensive laundry bags they sell for separating your clothing items by type during washing. They come with a zipper and really last a long time. They don’t make noise like the noisy plastic space saver bags do, because they are made of acrylic fabric, which also makes them more durable. You can usually find them on the same aisle as the space saver bags.
4. Get an L.L. Bean hanging toiletry kit.
In my humble opinion, there is no other toiletry organizer on the market that is as well-made and well-designed as L.L. Bean’s hanging toiletry kit. I get no money from L.L. Bean. In fact, when my dad first gave me this toiletry kit as a birthday gift, I was underwhelmed. Fast forward 10 years later, and not only am I still using it, but it is my most valuable travel accessory. I use it nearly every day because I travel so much, and it easily and effectively holds all of my toiletries. In fact, it does such a good job that I forget how much is in there and it can get really heavy, so watch out for the weight!
5. Speaking of toiletries, leave behind your expensive bottles of serums and moisturizers, and use contact lens cases instead.
If you are only going on a two-week trip or less, it is pretty easy to count out the amount of serum/moisturizer drops you need for your trip by pumping all the drops in a water-tight contact lens case. Believe me, I’ve lost a lot of expensive products during my travels through damage in the traveling process. Don’t risk ruining expensive products and benefit from not taking on the extra weight of the big bottles.
6. Protect your blush, bronzers, powders, and eye shadows from breaking and crumbling with disposable face pads.
My fabulous friend and fellow adventurous traveler Giovanna told me about this tip and the tip above. I’ve had enough casualties of my make-up over the years that I embraced this tip from the first day she suggested to me. Placing one or two make-up remover pads on the faces of my powder cosmetics has definitely minimized breakage.
7. Get out your suitcase at least a week in advance and start filling it with trip-specific items that you don’t use every day.
There are many trip-specific items that you don’t use on a daily basis, like your passport, so why not get them packed in advance and save yourself the stress and energy of packing these items the night before your trip? If you have your luggage or carry-on out in advance, it is a gentle reminder to think ahead about important items you need to pack, and you can toss them in as you think of them throughout the week before your trip. I’m leaving for Italy in three days on a work trip with CISabroad, and I’ve had my luggage out since last weekend. I realized when I put my camera in my luggage that I needed to charge the batteries. I was so grateful not to be charging batteries at midnight the night before my trip! Types of items you can pack in advance:
Energy bars/snacks for traveling days
Camera and accessories
Gifts for relatives (if you’re paying someone a visit)
Passport
Winter clothing accessories
Plug adapter
8. Ensure your comfort in unknown environments by packing a large, light-weight scarf that you can keep in your carry-on or purse.
I keep a large, light-weight scarf in my purse year-round. It is a lifesaver. When I’m on a plane, I use it as a blanket.
During the summer I use it as a shawl if an evening gets a little chilly. During the winter I use it as a scarf. It can also be a beach cover-up, extra layer of warmth on your legs outside on a cold night, the list goes on and on. I’m using it as a shawl on a chilly summer evening in Ojai, California in the photo above, and in the photo on the right, I’m using it as a scarf on a chilly summer morning in Birmingham, England.
9. Do your vacation shopping trip several weeks in advance in case there are a few items you can’t find and need to order online.
I went to Target a few weeks ago, and while I checked off most items on my shopping list, the shopping trip also reminded me of other items I needed. I wanted a high-quality, fashionable backpack that fit my laptop. Not an easy item to find, and Target didn’t have one. I went home and found one online, but the item was back-ordered. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow, three days before my trip. Close call, phew!
10. Use pill boxes to keep small items like jewelry separated on long trips.
I admit, I’m a lover of accessorizing, so pill boxes aren’t necessary for everyone, especially for short trips when selecting one or two pairs of earrings that go with everything is a better option. But my trips are quite long, and I get bored with just two pairs of earrings after a while. I’m thrilled to finally have such easy access to them! This is another tip I got thanks to my traveler buddy Giovanna!
11. Pay attention year-round to the travel-sized section of your local pharmacy or big retail store to look for clever travel solutions.
Although your basics are always available, the travel-sized product selection is constantly changing, and varies significantly from store to store. If there’s a product you use regularly that you’d like the travel-sized version of, it isn’t so easy to find it by just going to one store. So just pay attention year-round whenever you find yourself at a CVS, Rite Aid, Target, ULTA, etc. For instance, a few months ago Target had several travel-sized Burt’s Bees products that I had never seen there before, and are since gone. And I just picked up travel-sized nail polish remover wipes, which are so much lighter than my mini-nail polish remover bottle, and isn’t considered a liquid. I’m so excited about this find. 🙂 Please note: Certain cosmetics brands you can contact directly or go to their websites to find travel-sized versions of their products. I often pick-up specialty travel-sized products when I’m at ULTA.
After completing two master’s programs in arts management, the topic of art and its relationship to life is of particular interest to me and has been the topic of many a paper and lengthy discussion with colleagues. But in the case of the weekly WordPress photo challenge “Life Imitates Art,” I’m abstaining from profundity of any kind and delving into this photo challenge quite literally, utilizing the immensity of my library of travel photography as a significant asset. I mean, doesn’t everybody love taking silly statue photos?
On that note, I now introduce you to the tip of the iceberg of my silly statue photo collection. I apologize in advance.
Statues with lots of personality seem to be commonplace in Budapest, including this one just down from St. Stephen’s Basilica. Here my friend seems to have transformed herself into the pot-bellied double-breasted policeman.
My lovely arts management colleague Valentina interacts with a graceful statue in Trieste as if she were one of the group.
This is one of a series of shots created with an obscure animal statue, me performing a selfie, and my friend Dan in the background responding to the serious posture of the animal. This polar bear is at the Venice Arsenale. We crack ourselves up.
Here are Dan and I again, this one with a giant “rhinocéros” statue in front of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
My Dad at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. He’s the best model.
Here in Stockholm, art imitates life with this statue of a man popping out of a manhole as people whiz by, as if he were about to fall into stride right behind them.
Another moment in beautiful Stockholm where art imitates life. This evening I was strolling through Old Town on my own, and this statue was so full of life that he almost transformed into my travel companion.
My beautiful friend Lauren seemingly the human embodiment of the whimsical beauty of this flower mural in Dozza, Italy.
2. If you are flying international and think you might buy a lot of souvenirs, pack a large recyclable grocery bag to use as a carry-on on the way back if necessary.
3. Saving space is important, but space saver bags are only helpful to a point.
5. Speaking of toiletries, leave behind your expensive bottles of serums and moisturizers, and use contact lens cases instead.
6. Protect your blush, bronzers, powders, and eye shadows from breaking and crumbling with disposable face pads.
