Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
One of the first things I do after we’ve booked tickets for a trip is make a beeline to the library so I can see what they have for me in the travel guidebook section. I LOVE guidebooks. Nothing gets me more excited about visiting …
When I was in my 20s, I visited a back specialist and was told that I have the back of an 80-year-old. (Lovely, right?) What this means is that once or twice a year, I tweak it just right and go down for the count …
At my day job, we talk a lot about travel and the comparison of different locations. It comes up naturally due to the nature of our business. I work for an engineering consulting firm and we design projects all over the world (not me personally, I am not an engineer). Our engineers are on the road a lot and they get to visit some pretty cool places. To be fair, they also have to travel to some pretty crummy places as well. Regardless, travel is a common topic around the water cooler. Added to that, I have a close group of coworker-friends that all enjoy a good vacation. So we talk destinations and vacation hours and generally get ourselves worked up on a regular basis. It is both wonderful and frustrating all at the same time.
Just last week, I had a conversation with a coworker about her next vacation (we will call her L). She is in the very initial stages of planning her next trip and is trying to decide where to go. Choosing just one place can be a very difficult task. As we discussed the pros and cons of various countries, I remembered the post I recently wrote about choosing your next travel destination. I thought it might be fun to test out my questions on a real-life example (other than my own). L was more than happy to be my guinea pig.
To recap, here is the list of questions I posed when choosing your next travel destination:
Luckily, L had answers for most of the questions. She also had a handful of destinations she was considering choosing (e.g. Amsterdam, Thailand, Spain, Guatemala and Slovenia). I just had to decide how I wanted to compare and contrast the information I was given. After several false starts, I settled on an Excel document. I am not a big fan of Excel (I’m more of an InDesign girl), but since I wanted to try and quantify the results, it seemed the best option.
After setting up my document, I started researching. Since I have not been to all of the destinations L is considering, it seemed best to research all of them equally (stay tuned for a future post on what websites I like to use for researching trips). For each question, I would research a destination and then give it a number between zero and three—three points being the highest and zero being…well, zero. After I finished with the last question, Excel added up the total number of points for each destination. Of course, numbers do not tell the whole story. But it was interesting to see how her destinations added up.
Curious what the results were? Given L’s particular set of circumstances, Guatemala came out on top with Amsterdam coming in a close second. You can see all of the numbers as well as my notes in the photo of the Excel document below. The best part was seeing L’s reaction and I cannot wait to hear which destination she ends up choosing—even if it is not one of the destinations I did the research for!
For me, it was fascinating to research various destinations and not be emotionally invested. Since I will not be going on this particular vacation, it was easy for me to be objective. And having that objectivity helped tremendously in rating each country. I am not sure it would have been so easy if I was planning this trip for myself. (Although I did make notes for future trips.)
It was also fun. Like really fun. I knew I enjoyed planning my own adventures. But I had no idea I would enjoy planning someone else’s adventure just as much. I guess the next best thing to actually traveling really is planning a trip—whether it’s your own or not!
Speaking of which, do you want some help planning your next vacation? I had so much fun helping L plan hers that I would love to hear from you if you’d like a little assistance. Just send us a comment if you are having a hard time deciding between Venice and Bali and we can do a comparison for you.
Asking some basic questions and comparing the answers side-by-side can help you narrow down your choices and focus your plans. If nothing else, it can help set realistic expectations for your destination.
UPDATE: L chose Amsterdam and her and husband had a wonderful time exploring that great city.
Are you new to Airbnb? Maybe wondering what all of the fuss is about? That was me about a year ago. I was as green as they get and had never tried any home rental service before. Oh boy, was I missing out. Airbnb was …
Cruise ship travel is not for everyone. So “to cruise or not to cruise?” is the question I will try to answer today. Cruise ship travel may be perfect for you. Or it may be the worst idea ever for your travel style. Or maybe, …
Back in February, B and I headed off to Hawaii so I could join her in the Fifty States Club. (Meaning we had visited all 50 states.) We caught a quick hop to Seattle and then flew to Kona on the Big Island. I knew this was going to be a long flight, but I made the (wrong) assumption that it would be like all the other international flights I’ve been on. Well, you know what they say about assumptions! We were solidly unprepared for the seven-hour, TV-less flight that took us to paradise. Below are some flight survival gear we neglected to bring that help make those tedious, over-ocean flights bearable, along with a few that we (thankfully) don’t ever leave home without.
Here is a video we made about most of the items below.
I used to just bring my basic Apple headphones that come with a new iPhone on flights because they are so small and easy to fit in a bag. These are not great at cutting out ambient noise though. So last year I broke down and decided to get some proper headphones. B uses Sony MDR-NC7 Noise Canceling Headphones that she has been very happy with for years. I opted for the Sony MDR-7506. While these are not noise canceling, they do fit over the ear and do a good job of drowning out crying babies. They were about $100 on Amazon and apparently this model has been a workhorse in the headphone field for about 30 years.
Sony headphones…for audiophiles everywhere
B and I have had our trusty Apple iPod Touches for many moons. (Or at least I did until I left mine in a rental car in Sacramento last weekend. Grrrr….) I know iPhones these days have plenty of memory and can fit lots of songs on there. But I’ll be honest, I still have no idea what the cloud is or how it works. I know I sometimes have music on my phone when I’m using data and random songs will get saved to my phone somehow that I can listen to without Wi-Fi. But to make things simple, I like to have a device dedicated to all my tunes. Maybe if Alamo can’t locate my iPod, I’ll have to figure out how to save music to my phone. But the bottom line is, music and podcasts can help get you through your flights. When you can’t binge-watch any more in-flight movies, you need to be able to put on something chill, close your eyes and relax.
The canned oxygen that is forced through the ventilation system sucks most of the humidity out of you on a plane ride. To combat this, you need to drink lots of fluids. This will also help with your jet lag. The flight attendants come by pretty frequently but it is a good idea to keep a bottle of water handy for the in between service times. As a bonus, you’ll have to use the restroom a lot which will recirculate some of the blood that is gathering in your ankles.
Some international flights offer little fleece blankets. But just in case they don’t, it is a good idea to bring a scarf that can double as a blanket. It isn’t so much that it can get cold, but that it tricks your mind into thinking it is bedtime when you are snuggled up.
Socks serve three purposes on a long flight. First, they keep your feet warm. Second, they help keep your cankles at bay. Third, they allow you to stay clean. Who knows when that carpet was last cleaned. I’m looking into getting some specialty compression socks for the long flights–stay tuned for a review in a future post.
B did a lot of homework and research to find the best neck pillow out there. She ended up with the Cabeau Evolution pillow. It is essentially a big hunk of memory foam shaped like a horseshoe. There is a plastic clip at the end that allows the end of the U to stay together, thus providing a nice support system for your head no matter which way it lolls.
The Cabeau takes up more space than an inflatable pillow, but you are able to roll it up tightly and put it in it’s carrying case that can be velcroed together (which makes it much smaller than you’d think possible). If any of you have ever bought a memory foam pad for your mattress, you’ll know how amazing it is that something so small can turn into something so big. This is along those same lines. Once B purchased her Cabeau and tested it out, I did what any sensible Jane would do: I bought one in a different color.
The Cabeau memory foam neck pillow
No matter your media – electronic or paperback – you need a few good books with you on a long flight. I like to put a few on my iPad and then bring a real one too, leaving it on the road once I’ve finished it. Luckily for me, on the disastrous Hawaii flight I had a beach book in my purse.
Whichever direction you fly, time zones are going to mess with your circadian rhythm. It will help if you get at least a few hours of shut eye on the plane. Ear plugs will help you drown out the noises of the plane.
I’m not one of those lucky people who fall asleep at the drop of the hat. If I am going to catch a few hours of sleep sitting up in an uncomfortable seat, it is going to take some assistance. Everyone is different with what works for their bodies. I will bring a Tylenol PM or Benadryl with me in the hopes that it will knock me out for part of the ride.
Well there you have it. Having the above items will help make your loooooong flights a little more manageable. That and the awesome netflix-like collection of shows airlines provide, combined with the excuse that you really don’t have anything better to do.
With a little preparation and a trusty flight survival gear kit, you can and will survive international flights. You will wake up to a whole new country and set of adventures. As a bonus, you will have had time to plow through the entire first season of The Originals guilt-free.
Having trouble choosing where to travel to next? Are you feeling overwhelmed and maybe a little paralyzed by all of the possibilities? If you are like me, then deciding where to travel to next is one of the hardest parts of travel planning. Because there …
Global Entry and TSA PreCheck have changed the way we travel. As Michael would say, “Do you remember a time”……when you didn’t have to bring a ziplock bag with you to the airport? Or when you didn’t have to unlace your boots to walk through …