Summer Travel…packing options and travel tips

With summer travel upon us, it’s always a good idea to shore up on packing tips and outfit options…especially since, while I’m a self-proclaimed savvy packer, I usually end up over packing and suffering from sore arms for at least a week after I travel, from lugging luggage that’s too darned heavy!    I’m considering this a “self-help” blog for Moi.

More Options

Airport Ensembles

Summer Beauty Packing List

A good packing list helps you figure out what to bring, what to leave, and ensures you’ll make it out the door with all the necessities. Not sure where to start? Here’s a list that will keep you both sane and beautiful this summer, compliments of Makeup.com.

Skin care

Gentle exfoliating cleanser
Tinted Moisturizer or BB Cream with SPF
Body Lotion with SPF
Night serum
Night cream
Eye cream
Pink drying lotion (for breakouts, bug bites, razor burn and more)
Makeup

Bronzer

Highlighter
Cream blush
Waterproof mascara
Cream eyeshadows
Eye liner
Makeup pencil sharpener
Makeup brushes or sponges
Lip gloss in peach, pink and nude
Eyebrow gel
Sheer translucent powder or blotting tissues
Clear or light nail polish
Deluxe rollerball of your signature scent
Haircare

Mini shampoo and conditioner
Serum and/or surf spray
Mini bottle of hairspray
Blowdryer
Brushes (one paddle, one round)
Accessories
Grooming

Razor
Shower cap
Q-tips
Tweezers
Toothpaste
Floss
Mini deodorant
Mini soap
Toenail clipper

Travel Tips by an Ex Airline Guy (this is not me, as I’m a girl)

Fly early – This was the advice I offered in one of my very first blog posts, and it still holds true. Fly as early as you can possibly tolerate during the summer. Airlines are very focused on getting their morning launch out of the gate on time, and you are less likely to be impacted by thunderstorms.

Pack lightly, but do pack patience – If possible, try and travel with carry ons only. I have two carry on bags that I alternate between depending on trip length, a Samsonite 21″ spinner for longer trips, and a Kenneth Cole 20″ spinner for short trips. I supplement this with an Eagle Creek “Quirk” Travelpack, which I have found to carry an amazing amount of stuff and still fit underneath the seat in front of you. I managed to do three weeks in Europe with this combo.

Sticking with carry ons will offer you an enormous amount of flexibility during your summer travels. The peace of mind of having your belongings with you when the inevitable summer storms roll and accompanying “off schedule operations” is priceless.

Now, about patience. Air travel during the summer months can be a test of anyone’s patience. Be nice to the airline staff, and they are more apt to help get you out of a bind. If you are stuck waiting for a flight, don’t visit the counter every 3 minutes to ask about the flight.

Patience is good, but don’t let that stop you from being Proactive – It’s always good to be informed, but especially so during the summer months. Be proactive by checking the weather along your route of flight, and across the country really. It is entirely possible for a line of thunderstorms across Florida to impact your flight from Dallas to New York. Take a minute to research possible back up plans if your flight is delayed or cancelled. Sometimes it can be helpful to have that back up plan in your pocket if you’re working with an airline agent to get rebooked. You may think of things they don’t.

If you’re flight is cancelled or delayed and you are standing in a long line of customers waiting to be rebooked, be proactive by calling the airline’s 1-800 number and working on alternative arrangements. By the time you get to the front of the line, you may already have everything worked out, and just need to pick up a new boarding pass. As a Delta flyer, I love @DeltaAssist for help with making alternative arrangements during a delay. They are awesome! If you’re on a flight with wi-fi, you can probably access your airline’s website for free. Start looking at your options before you land, and you may even find that you’ve already been taken care of for the next leg of your trip.

Consider a travel concierge – I consider myself an experienced traveler who has no problem navigating the landmines that summer travel can lay in your way. However, if you are not a routine traveler, and are taking a trip of a lifetime, or at least your very valuable annual vacation time, you might consider investing in a travel concierge to watch things for you. I have used the services of Cranky Concierge on important vacation trips before, and they are worth every penny.

Invest in a day pass to the airline lounge – If you aren’t a lounge member, or don’t carry a credit card product that grants access, the price of a day pass to the airline lounge may be worth the price of gold. Airline lounges are typically staffed with the most experienced agents who can help you get on your way sooner rather than later. If nothing else, you can at least wait for your delayed flight in comfort with access to beverages and snacks.

Be nice – Right up there with patience, is politeness. As frustrating as air travel delays can be, taking those frustrations out on airline personnel are not going to help you get home faster. And you don’t need the extra stress either.

(Source:  Marshall Jackson on Travel)

Essential Tips for Stress Free Travel from Men’s Health Magazine

Sleep Like a Local
Andy Roddick needs quality rest when he lands in a new city for a tournament. So he starts right in with forcing his body to adapt to the time zone, even if he arrived exhausted. “If you fall asleep at 3 p.m., you’re dead. You’ll be up all night,” he says. “In a new place I normally try to make it to at least 9 or 10 o’clock the first couple of nights.”

Beat Jet Lag
“I always take a bath everywhere I go,” says Don Wildman, the itinerant host of Off Limits. For Wildman, being immersed in water seems to quell the neuroses of air travel. “It just seems to normalize my body. It could be a tiny Best Western tub. But as long as I’m in a bath, I can just meditate.”

Stay Alert
You don’t need a gym to have your fitness fix. “I carry a jump rope because it gets my heart beating in the morning,” Wildman says. “And sometimes I’ll take it on shoots with me, and I just do a little rope jumping for 5 minutes. It wakes me up better than a cup of coffee.”

Feel at Home in a Hotel
Roddick’s move: Unpack immediately. “That helps a lot,” he says. “If you’re tapped out from being on the road, the last thing you want is to come back to a couple of bags that look like they exploded all over the hotel room.” Wild-man will even put books on bookshelves. “The least I can do for myself,” he says, “is fool myself into thinking I’m home.”

Find a Decent Meal
If you return to a city regularly, you could do as Roddick does and revisit a favorite restaurant each time. That’s a good way to create a feeling of familiarity, which can be welcome when you’re away from home. Globe-trotting violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, on the other hand, likes to explore:” I rarely ask the concierge for advice,” Bell says,” because he is apt to send me to his cousin’s pizzeria around the corner. But I do refer to the Michelin guide and research thoroughly online—Yelp, Zagat, Open-Table—and I sometimes ask for recommendations on social networking sites like ASmallWorld, which is full of travelers like me.” Either that, or he hits an In-N-Out Burger.

Use Downtime Wisely
“I try to remind myself that ‘killing time’ is a sin,” Bell says. “Life is too short as it is, and it’s a shame to wish for it to go by quicker. There’s always something worthwhile to do, even on an airplane—read a good book, learn a new language with Rosetta Stone, write to my friends around the world who haven’t heard from me in too long.” When Bell does watch television, it’s often on his iPad: He’ll catch episodes of Dexter, Breaking Bad, andModern Family, and “I’m not proud of this”—the occasional installment of Desperate Housewives.

TSA Packing Guidelines

Essentials for the Plane

Healthy Plane Travel

My 2 Favorite Places

Chicago skyline.  This picture was taken by my friend Desiree from Navy Pier

Huntington Beach, CA…This picture was taken from our hotel room.  Waterfront Beach Resort, one of our very, favorite hotels.  And no, I didn’t mention the Hilton Financial District in San Francisco…Kevin’s hotel, because that would have been obvious…and I am never obvious.  but that hotel rocks as well with view of the Bay.  Love it!

And yes, Joy…I did have to leave the Gala earlier than planned last night, to get my blog ready…but thinking  by 1030P , I had “Gala’d” enough…Thank you for the great evening, Lora, Mindy, Amelia and Scott. 🙂

Happy and Safe Travels…SoCal…here we come! 🙂

xoxo,

T.