We’re back home and its time to put another 3 guidebooks on our shelf. I like this idea of wrapping an old guidebook in a map as a book cover to keep your collection of trip memories without looking like a Lonely Planet dealer. Our guidebooks are mostly DIY Moleskine guidebooks, but I think they still looked pretty wrapped with maps.
Cartoon Via: penelope-jolicoeur
From the moment I set foot inside an airport I feel like I am being worn out and beat down by the process of travel. I mitigate it as much as possible with snacks, naps, noise-canceling headphones, but really who sleeps well sitting up or enjoys being in motion for more than 12 hrs?
I’d love to pick a long-haul international stewardess’ brain on this, but in the meantime, here is what I’ve found that works for me vs. jetlag. I’ll be employing all these techniques just to focus now that I’m on the ground in France.
Any tips appreciated!
Sleep the week before you leave
Stay rested the entire week before you travel. This means don’t stay up until 2am the night before packing or making the house clean so you have a clean house to come home to. I like coming home to a clean home, but I won’t feel like a zombie for three days of my hard earned vacation to accomplish this.
Stress-proof your body
Your body needs sleep, good food and hydration. Figure out how to get them while traveling.
Hydration – The alcohol may be free, but its de-hydrating. And don’t forget to hydrate your skin. The dry plane air is no fun for skin. While technically it won’t help with jet lag, a little moisturizer on your face will make you feel more human guaranteed.
Food – For longer trips pack accordingly, don’t make yourself a victim of the food they serve. (ah, how happy I am we’re not flying on an American airline) And for short trips its far better to have some healthy almonds in flight than those nasty salt packs they hand out.
Sleep – I don’t sleep on planes. 36 hrs to Hong Kong and nope not a wink in the air, but I have been known to set a cell-phone alarm and crash in the airport.
Drink tea
Chamomile tea keeps me calm, but it also works for nausea and as an anti-inflammatory. Ginger calms tummies too and maybe its all in my head, but a good ginger scone makes me feel less claustophobic too. Sitting there eating a homemade ginger scone with some chamomile tea from Starbucks is a travel ritual that doesn’t get old.
Things to try, that don’t work for me
Acupressure wristbands
No jet lag herbal suppliment
The car is rented. One more thing off of the checklist before we leave on Friday night. I hate to rent when I could take trains, but this trip it just makes sense. Tonight is my last manual driving lesson and I’ll also be buying a Europe iPad GPS app. to join our Michelin Germany map for navigation.
Lessons learned for trying to rent a car in France & Germany:
Wish me luck, and German/French drivers I apologize in advance for my manual skills.
Vagabonding had a recent post on travel journal peeping which pointed me to this link to moleskinerie. It is a pretty cool blog where people open up their own Moleskines and show whats inside, how they use them. I’ll never be a sktechbook artist doing amazing watercolors in mine, but its inspirational none the less.
Lonely Planet‘s 1000 Ultimate Experiences iPad app Is Free For 3 days.
I don’t have an iPad (yet), but I might download this for future use while its Free [iTunes via SAI]
via: John in LA
Oahu, a tropical wonder of beach and sand, mountains and jungles, but it can also be the land of uber-big tacky hotels and tons of tourists.
Hubby will be there for four days of Army training with just a few hours here and there to do more than stare out the window at the rainforest. Given more time, I’d go with him and do things again like sea kayak or scuba dive. Oahu is everything you’d want a tropical paradise to be, with enough to see and do here to keep you busy for a lifetime (duh people live here for just that reason), but between cosmopolitan Honolulu anad the mountain ranges of Ko’olau there is still an incredible diversity of things to do, even with just a short amount of time.
Here is the little list that I made for him to take with (after jealously whining about the injustice of being left behind).
Stroll through the Botanical Gardens
The 1st time we went to oahu we went to the Foster Botanical Garden, but it was fall time. Now it is Spring and Hawaii’s amazing collection of sweet-smelling flowers and treeswill be in full bloom. Its right downtown and only takes an hour or two to go through.
Bishop Museum
This museum took me all day and for most people it will take at least half a day, especially if you have kids, but you can time it to go just in time for one of their one hour topic specific tours and be in and out in just over an hour. Even if you do not have kids, this is a must-see on your vacation. Originally founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi, it contains a great collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts and a huge science adventure center where they actually make lava as one of the displays.
Nu-uanu Pali Lookout
Honolulu traffic is hell, it once took me 2 hrs to go 3 miles. So why not go a little out of the way on your commute (yes rental car is pretty unavoidable for business trips as the bus system is so slow). Take about a half hour drive from Waikiki to the Nu`uanu Pali Lookout which has a great view of the windward side of Oahu and Kaneohe Bay.
Hawaii’s Royal Palace
Take a unique tour of the only royal palace in the United States. Built in 1882 for King Kalakaua, Iolani Palace takes only about an hour to see and is just a short walk from the State Capitol in downtown Honolulu. http://www.iolanipalace.org/
Pearl Harbor
He went to Pearl Harbor on a family vacation with his parents once, but with military I.D. its super easy to see the U.S.S. Missouri simply by driving yourself and not waiting for the shuttle bus. Both the beginning and end of World War II are memorialized forever at Pearl Harbor today in the form of the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S Missouri. To save time you can drive to the Missouri yourself with military I.D. and see the U.S.S. Bowfin real quick. Tickets to the Arizona are timed so if you only have an hour or so to stop by you’ll have to get there early or skip it.
Historic Mission Houses
The Mission Houses were the original headquarters of the Sandwich Islands Mission, a group of New England Christian missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in 1820. It takes less than two hours to quickly peruse all three buildings. http://www.missionhouses.org/
Hike Diamond Head
Located on the southeast coast of Oahu, not far from Waikiki, Diamond Head is one of the world’s best-known volcanic craters. The view from the 760-ft. summit is well worth the climb. The steep trail to the top is mostly paved and includes two sets of stairs. One is 99 steps, the other 76 steps. They lead to a 225-foot tunnel (bring a flashlight) and end with a spectacular view of the island’s west side. This is also an excellent spot for whale watching during the winter months. While the park service suggests you allow 1.5-to-2 hours for a leisurely hike; the hike itself, round trip, takes less than 30 minutes for an in-shape Army guy.
Its been a long time since my last iPhone Travel apps post. We did eventually get a iPod Touch and have been loving some apps. Now that the new iPhone OS 4.0 comes with multi-tasking I may be taking the full-time plunge and getting an iPhone this summer. Here’s what I’ll look forward to having with me once I have 3G goodness instead of straight-up WIFI. What are your favorites?
Apps that lighten my load:
USB Drive = Dropbox (Free)
I have lost more USB drives while traveling than I care to count. Now I use Dropbox instead. 2GB of free space available on the iPhone, on the web and synched between all my computers…perfect.
Camera =
I think photo editing on your iPhone is a stupid idea, way too time consuming to do that on a small phone, I’m spoiled by my home setup. But photo taking? Absolutely necessary and occasionally you can leave the camera at home if you have some good apps. I’m told ProCamera ($2.99) or Camera Genius ($1.99), both are improvements over the iPhone native camera, although I haven’t tried them myself yet.
Presenter Remote = Remote (Free)
Forget buying/bringing a presenter remote, just install this app.
Wireless Mouse = Air Mouse Pro Wireless Mouse ($1.99)
Cheaper than any mini-mouse and more functional too. I rarely want a mouse with my Macbook, but when I do this replicates the functionality of a wireless mouse and lightens my load.
E-Reader = Amazon Kindle (Free)
Amazon’s Kindle
Apps that make trips smoother:
TripIt (Free)
Does one thing and does it well it takes all of your confirmation codes automatically puts it into an itinerary complete with additional hotel information and links that you can share with others. Even Tim Ferriss loves it.
Flighttrack Pro ($9.99)
I wouldn’t pay for an app unless it was awesome and this one is. For the frequent traveler needing it once pays for it. It does what it says and is the best flight tracking app out there with push alerts, real-time flight itinerary updates, automatic synching, and maps that work offline. Flight cancelled? It even helps you find alternate flights. Integrated with TripIt too.
Around Me (Free)
Allows you to quickly find out information about your surroundings. Doesn’t replace a guidebook, but helps.
Apps that solve problems of traveling:
Mint (Free) and Paypal (Free)
Maybe I’m the only one who has missed a bill payment while traveling internationally, but if not Mint.com and Paypal.com apps will save your bacon.
Shape Travelista
Travel is hard on the gym plan. “Don’t let a business trip derail your workout ever again.” Workout app designed with the traveler in mind.
Location specific apps
Well there are tons, and this list can’t go on forever. Point being, apps make travel awesome. In no way can they replace a good guidebook (even though Rick Steve’s guides have apps now) or should absorb you into not paying attention to the world around you. Take off the head phones and wander a bit.
I ran into Pauline Frommer’s blog “Traveling Light” on WeightWatchers.com of all places. Its all about how travel took its toll on her waistline (something I can empathize with). I didn’t know who she ways and then it hit me, duh, Frommers, like the guidebook. A quick google later and I stumbled upon this free book, “Spend Less, See More.” Its a 15 page pdf. I especially liked the tips dealing with contract of carriage as its a problem I’ve run into and not known how to deal with when I’m delayed and frustrated.
The one nice thing about having a December Birthday is that you only have to make one wishlist a year. Not so nice is getting Birthday presents wrapped in snowman paper, but oh well, it’s the thought that counts. Anyway, enough ranting over December Birthdays, this year hubby did good and wrapped up a Moleskine City Notebook London
I felt slightly guilty for going to Chicago and not posting anything about here. Since it is my third trip there I didn’t feel the need to take another day off of work to see the city so I just bugged in and out over a three day weekend. However, I don’t want to leave you empty handed. Here is a Matador network post on Chicago on a Budget and I will add the following. Staying downtown can be pricey. If you’re going for a short trip you’ll be going to and from downtown in a cab or on the “L” at least once to stay downtown. Instead I would suggest staying at the airport, taking the “L” downtown and seeing your sights and then taking the “L” back. If you’re only going to do this once roundtrip then you’ll save time as you already would have had one roundtrip just getting to your downtown hotel. Even if your event is downtown you can take the train downtown, go to your meeting or whatever, do your sight-seeing and return. Sleeping by the airport is also pretty convenient for early flights as you can’t depend on Chicago traffic if you’re in a cab and the “L” can be a pain the morning, especially with baggage. Waking up, checking out and walking straight to your gate after getting your boarding pass in the lobby couldn’t be easier. It really makes Chicago so much less of a hassle.
Any locals have some tips? I have always found Chicago to be difficult to budget travel.
