Traveling Tidbits (and a Giveaway Hint!)

  {we heart it}

Hello and happy Monday!  Today is a little less than happy for me, as I’m cooped up in bed with a sore throat and crazy case of the sniffles/coughs/aches.  Lovely, I know.  But, being cooped up has its benefits…hello blogland :) 

It feels like we’ve been traveling a ton lately, even before our world tour.  In recent months, I’ve learned a lot about traveling, and I thought I’d share some of my traveling tidbits with my delightful readers…

The airlines picked up on what my dad wishes he would have picked up on years ago.  If you charge me for bags, I’ll pack lighter.  Pretty sure my dad’s back would have been saved if he would have known that.  I’ve always been a complicated traveler, even when the clothes in my suitcase were from Limited Too.

Don’t ever go on a vacation, roadtrip, or overnight get away without your cozy robe.  It’s the easiest way to feel at home when everything around is nothing like home.

The only thing I dread more than a pop quiz in my Structural Equation Modeling class (yeah, I’m in a class with that name, and yeah, its as awful as it sounds) is the moment on a flight when the dude in front me decides to lean his chair back.  I mean, airline legroom is limited in general, but for a long legged 5’10’’ sista, it’s unbearable.  But no worries dude in front of me, I love holding my magazine two inches from my face and balancing my airplane sized mini coke in my lap. 

A king sized bed with seven fluffy pillows is the best sight in the world after a day full of traveling.  For realz.

I am weirdly obsessed with Hudson News (you know, the airport news/magazine store.)  Something about all those new, shiny magazines lining the walls with candy stacked high up the adjacent wall is absolutely thrilling for me.  I literally stop at every airport and every layover to buy a magazine (or two or three) and some Twizzlers.  I might have a problem, I realize this.

Uggs and snow do not mix. Period.  (Oh how I’m going to struggle in Chicago.)

A poor doctoral student’s dream phrase to hear while waiting for her flight is “Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is overbooked.  We are currently looking for volunteers to get off for a travel voucher with our airline.”  Matt and I heard that phrase before our flight to Chicago, and while all the “real” grown ups with money stayed glued to their seats, looking around thinking, “Oh hell no, I’m not getting off this flight,” I was sprinting to the counter to be the first volunteer.  And the payoff was totally worth it.  For delaying our trip an hour and a half, Matt and I each got $400 in Delta money, as well as breakfast and lunch meal vouchers.  400 dollars?!  Do you know all the places I could fly with that extra money?!  Before our flight even took off, I had already planned a trip with Matt to Napa, Disneyworld, and New York.  Now I just have to choose :)  So the next time they offer a voucher to give up your seat, I’d act fast, or I might beat you to the ticket counter :)

After you offer to give up your seat for your $400, and the gate agent tells you she made a mistake and she can’t get you out for seven more hours, simply and firmly ask to speak to her supervisor.  The problem will be fixed and you’ll have an earlier flight within ten minutes.  (Weird how that happens…)

The roll method of packing really does work.  I swear by it now.  I can fit at least twice at much crap much needed stuff into my suitcase with the roll and stuff method.

Take a fair amount of jewelry on your trips.  Jewelry is relatively small yet can transform the look of any outfit, so pack good jewelry options, and give yourself double the travel wardrobe!

So what travel travel tips have you picked up over the years?  Do share because I’ve got four hundred Delta dollars to spend, and I plan to spend it as a smart and stylish traveler!  Annnnnd….get excited because later this week I’m posting a fun giveaway (woo hoo!) that has to do with one of the travel tidbits I talked about here.  (I’ll give you a hint, it has to do with the last tip.)  Hooray for giveaways, and hooray for sharing your travel tips with me!