When Should You Start Packing for Your Trip?

The final countdown to a big, epic adventure can be agonizing (see my last post for tips on how to survive it!). I had an interesting conversation with my travel companions for my upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand - when is too early to pack for a big trip?

My answer is: it's never too early! Well - at least for the most part. If it makes you happy and excited, I say go for it. Start packing now! I know people who have an entire bag packed and ready for a trip at all times. I don't quite go that far, but I am a fan of packing early. Here's my logic (take it or leave it!)

You Have Time To Change Your Mind

This is very important. I am forever fine-tuning my travel wardrobe. Keep in mind, I often work in yoga pants a hoodie - I'm not a fashionista. But when it comes to travel, I want my outfits to be cute AND functional! My travel pictures are my favorite pictures, and I often display them in my house. Therefore, I'm a big fan of cute, travel-friendly outfits. Because I am so out of practice with putting together outfits (is that even the right phrase?), I need time to fine-tune my travel wardrobe. Kind of like writing a paper - the first round of packing is my rough draft. Does that make any sense? Am I alone on this way of thinking? Maybe. 

All Your Favorite Clothes Will Be Clean

This is a tragedy I have encountered a time or two before I began packing weeks in advance. I used to wait to pack until the night before a trip, but I inevitably found my most comfy travel bra/underwear/socks/sweatpants etc. were dirty! I mean it makes sense. You're going to wear your most comfortable clothes fairly often. I now have taken to setting aside my favorite clothes (especially for the plane!! Those 12-hour plane rides are brutal), so I can rest assured those bad boys are ready to go. The down side is obviously you can't wear those clothes leading up to the trip but for me, it's totally worth it.

You Have Time to Remember Often-Forgotten Items

Inevitably, you will realize that you've forgotten something while on the way to the airport. Just accept that fact. BUT by packing early, you cut down on the likelihood that the forgotten item is something crucial, like say your passport. Maybe you will have forgotten something easily-replaceable like a toothbrush instead. By beginning the packing process early, I find myself snapping my fingers and dashing around my house to grab something for weeks leading up to my trip. Then come the day of the trip, I am ready!!! 

I know this was an odd blog post, but thanks for hanging in there. Check out my other posts for some actually-helpful tips and tricks. If you'd like some help planning your next big adventure, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

This Valentine's Day, Fall in Love With Travel - Single or Not!

February means it's the season of love, what with Valentine's Day being the main focus of the month. I thought I'd dive into why you should fall in love with travel - whether you're single or not!

Why I LOVE to Travel - and Always Have
I'm still a twenty-something, but I'm "settled down" married now. However, that doesn't mean I don't still travel. My love of exploring a new city and going on an adventure is something that has always been near and dear to my heart. I traveled constantly as a young child with my family, and sometimes it feels like I've just never stopped. I love to travel with friends and family, but I definitely have never been put off by traveling solo. In fact, I've backpacked through Italy for a few weeks completely on my own. It was one of the most exciting and empowering experiences of my life! Anytime I'm traveling, solo or with others, I'm learning, growing and exploring - my 3 favorite things! I'm lucky to have found a partner not only in life but also in my travels. I know my husband is always up for some adventure, but if the right opportunity presented itself I wouldn't have any problems traveling on my own again.

Don't Let a Lack of Travel Buddy Stop You!
Solo travel sounds scary, but I promise you it's not that bad and is absolutely worth it! As long as you are cautious and take a few safety precautions, there is nothing to keep you from seeing the world. Traveling by yourself is one of the most empowering thing you can ever do. You learn to  be self-reliant and nothing else compares! Don't sit back and wait for someone to come along who would be willing to travel with you, take control of your life and do it for yourself!

Make it Happen
So many people live their whole life wondering "what if?" Obviously, travel is not something that everyone can afford to just dive into on a whim. It often takes careful planning and determined saving. Great things take time and hard work, but as someone who has lived a life full of beautiful experiences, I can tell you that it's worth the fight.

If you need a little help in the planning process, I'd love to help! MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com

Hiking the La Luz Trail - Albuquerque, NM

Now that we are back from Portugal, we've already started brainstorming ideas for our next trip. We are tentatively thinking about hiking the Grand Canyon which got me reminiscing about our hiking trip to New Mexico in 2015. It was gorgeous, and I don't think I properly shared photos from that, so here we go!

Our biggest hike was La Luz, which is a trail that goes up the side of Sandia Mountain. I believe it's roughly 8 miles, but it does go up a mountain so leave yourself plenty of time!  That elevation change will get ya. We took our time and enjoyed the views, so it wound up taking us about 10 hours.

But look at the views! So beautiful!

And here's a shot of the triumphant gang at the top of the mountain. Go team! If you're in New Mexico, an outdoor enthusiast and up for adventure, I highly recommend this hike! 

Coasteering and Cliff Jumping in Portugal

We spent a few days in Lagos, Portugal to relax during our honeymoon.... but of course we had to squeeze in some adventure! I found amazing reviews for something called "coasteering." If you're anything like me, you've never heard of coasteering. I really wanted to go cliff jumping (safely) so I started doing some research, and that's when I stumbled across coasteering! It's a combination of hiking, swimming, rock climbing and cliff jumping to make your way along a coastline. It's a lot more swimming and rock climbing that hiking, but it was amazing! 

We started by hiking down from the parking lot to the water and did our first little jump! For the first 2 lower jumps we were allowed to any trick we wanted, so of course I had to do a backflip! 

The views were beyond amazing! And the weather was perfect... but we were definitely glad to have those wetsuits.

Also, thank goodness for those life vests! That swim seemed to go on forever! My husband and I definitely had to take some breaks.

This is an action shot of the group making our way along some rocks. We even had a few times where we were in a cave and had to put feet on one side and hands on the other and kind of shimmy along. It was so fun!

This was one of our bigger jumps! They told us to put our arms out to stabilize before bringing them in tight for impact. I apparently turn out to be quite majestic when I cliff jump. #FallingWithStyle

All in all, cliff jumping and coasteering were AMAZING! We had so much fun and I 10/10 would do it again. In fact, if my husband and I travel near the coast (any coast) again anytime soon we are for sure going to be on the lookout for other coasteering tours. I would recommend going with a company who knows what they are doing. Our tour was very professional and we had the proper safety equipment which was reassuring. Be careful, do your research and get out there and enjoy the adventure!

Is Pisa Worth the Trip?

Every trip through Italy seems to include a classic "Holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" picture (Guilty). But is it really worth it?

The long and short of it is - It's an iconic landmark, but a pain to get to! If you have a spare day to take the train out and back from Florence, I say go for it! I had a great time, but there's honestly not much to it. You get off the train, look at the worn map and follow the faded line to the tower. It is pretty incredible and definitely leaning! I just waited until I heard someone speaking english and asked if they would mind taking my picture. They were sweet, and I got a great picture out of it!

That said, there wasn't much to do beyond take a cool picture. You could pay to go up the tower, but I opted not to. I just didn't want to spend the money and wait in line - I was trying to still get back to Florence in time to do a few more things. While I waited for my return train, I sat in a cafe with a beautiful view of the tower, enjoyed an EPIC cup of hot chocolate and used their free wifi. It was a really nice way to kill time!

For me, it was worth it. I got to slow down for a little bit and relax, both on the train and at the restaurant. It was on my bucket list, so I'm glad I got to tick that off too. Honestly, take a look at your schedule. If you have a spare half a day, go for it! If you are more pressed for time and the picture isn't too important to you, you may want to skip it.

Elephant Reserve in South Africa

While in South Africa, we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the Knysna Elephant Park. It  was a beautiful reserve where the elephants are treated very well and get to live in HUGE pastures. So huge that you can't even see the fence.

That thing in the background isn't actually a fence. It's where they go to stand if they want to be fed. It keeps them from stealing the whole bucket of fruit that tourists hold to feed them.

My sister is a veterinarian and absolutely loves elephants, so it was a dream come true for her!

We even got to feed the elephants! They really liked grabbing fruit out of our buckets. 

There were also scientists sitting and observing our interactions, which was neat. I think it's amazing these gorgeous animals have somewhere safe to live and eat tasty treats.

Overall, this experience was amazing and I'm so glad we had the chance to meet these beautiful elephants! 

Don't forget! If you want to learn more about my travel business, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Santa Fe Round Up

Santa Fe was nothing short of amazing. We were a little scared it was going to rain so we squeezed both hiking destinations into one day. It turned out to be a lot more than we bargained for, but we definitely had fun and aren't even too horrendously sore.

Stop one was Bandelier National Park! It was truly beautiful and we had an absolute blast. Though the signage was horrendous (we wound up trying to figure out where to park and where to pay for parking for something like 20 minutes, but we got there eventually!) Once we got started we got to witness some pretty beautiful views. We got to climb straight up the side of a canyon using these crazy ladders and super narrow trails. It was a little scary, but really, really cool. We got to see how people lived hundreds of years ago.

Then we even decided to tackle the water fall trail. Due to construction (which we had no idea was gonig to be in our way) it took us an extra mile to even reach the trail head turning a 3 mile hike into a 5 mile hike. Yeesh! It was totally worth it though. The trail was very different than the others, it felt less traveled and more like you were actually in the wild.

We were meant to grab lunch in between hiking destinations, but Arby's betrayed us! Again, terrible signage got the better of us. We failed to locate said Arby's and mistakenly assumed another fast food establishment would pop up along the freeway before we reached the Tent Rocks. WRONG. We wound up eating trail mix for lunch (not ideal) and arrived a little tired, but excited. Tent rocks are these interesting  rock formations where a harder rock is sitting on top of softer rocks that have worn away so it looks like a boulder sitting on top of a small pillar. That hike was intense! It started off not too bad, the whole thing was only 3.2 miles, but man! A chunk of it was straight up. We had to climb over boulders and make our way through narrow passages, but the view from the top was spectacular. You could see for miles and miles. It was exhilarating! The drop off was literally right next to the trail. Talk about a rush! No worries, we made it back down safely.

We finished out the trail with only the occasional snake sighting (NO THANK YOU) and made our way back to town. We definitely stopped and ate a HUGE meaal at... Arby's. No shame. We had earned it!


The next day was our museum day! We essentially spent the day looking at Folk Art, History and an old beautiful church called San Miguel. The museums were very interesting and we had a great time! It was nice to sit down and admire the galleries (we were definitely tired from yesterday's hike!). I even bought a beautiful turquoise ring made by a Native American. I actually got to meet the artist and it was just a great experience. We finished out the day at a restaurant recommended to us by Schuyler's sister. It was called Santa Fe Bite and the burgers were delicious! We called it a night and were asleep by 9pm. Bliss.

Today we departed Santa Fe and took the quick route back to Albuquerque. We bopped around Old Town, had lunch at a local favorite (and had us a lunch time adult beverage because vacation), and did a little bit of light shopping. I found a New Mexican book store and bought a little souveneir. Surprise, surprise I bought a book.

We then headed over to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History and took a look around. It was intense, sad, scary and fascinating all at the same time. It was pretty incredible to get a look at what we, as a race, are capable of.

Then we headed to meet up with Schuyler's family and get the guys fitted for their tuxes so we are all ready for the wedding! We went out to a Thai restaurant and are now relaxing at the house we are staying at.

Tomorrow we are taking on our big hike! La Luz Trail is around 8 miles, uphill. Let's do this!!

Malena

Raleigh to Dallas to Albuquerque to Santa Fe All in One Day

This week is a very exciting week for Schuyler and I. We are taking a week long vacation in New Mexico before finishing out the week celebrating his sister's wedding. We left home this morning at 3:30am to catch our early morning flight to Dallas. After a brief and uneventful layover (my favorite kind of layover) we were on our way to New Mexico!

Upon arrival we picked out our rental car (which I can totally drive now #RealGrownUp) and headed to meet up with Schuyler's sister and her soon-to-be-husband for a nice lunch. They gave us some tips and what to see and then we were on our way! We decided to take the scenic route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, AKA the turquoise trail. We kicked off our mini road trip on route 66! We even got to go over the singing highway which was cool, but not quite as big as we thought it would be. We ran over the rumble strips and heard America The Beautiful, so that was neat.

We made a few pit stops along the way, but stopped to walk around properly in a little town called Madrid. No, not that one. This one is actually pronounced Mah-dread. It drives me nuts, I'm not going to lie. The emphasis goes on the first syllable.
Anyway, moving past the pronunciation, the town was super hippie and artsy. There was a store with a zebra on the roof that sold a 4 stringed instrument made from a cake pan cut and shaped to look like a moon (definitely almost bought it). It was phenomenal. I picked up a little $1 knick knack box as a momento. Oh and we definitely got to witness a random customer talk about how he played the saw. Yes, the saw. He convinced the shop keeper to lend him her saw and did a demonstration right there in the middle of the tiny shop. An awesome experience.

We also had some fun looking at all the funky jewelry and I even bought a pair of really pretty earrings! After a quick perusal of a chocolate shop with unique flavors (and the owner was rocking a raven's jersey and had articles from the Baltimore Sun on the wall!) we were off towards Santa Fe! We made a few stops at scenic pull offs to enjoy the view before arriving at our  hotel.

We basically then just planned out our day tomorrow because it's supposed to rain on Tuesday which messes up our hiking plans. Let's just say tomorrow is going to be intense. I. Can't. Wait.

I'll keep you posted as I can!

Malena

Roman Recap

My time in Rome flew by! I had no trouble navigating the trains but I had one heck of a time finding my hostel. I don't know what it is about Rome but I found it quite hard to navigate the city. I can find my way around just about anywhere but I don't know if it's because I was tired or what, but eventually I found my hostel.

The hostel was rather small and unremarkable. It had a kitchen which is always a plus in my book. I saved quite a bit of money by packing my lunch and cooking my own dinners. I basically just bought gelato food-wise.

I hit pretty much all the major attractions in Rome - The Spanish Steps, The Trevvi Fountain, The Roman Forum, The Coliseum, The Vatican City among others.

The Spanish Steps were far and away my favorite spot to visit. I loved to find a nice perch and read my book and watch the sun set over the city. I went back there three different days just because I absolutely enjoyed my time there. Reading in a new environment, especially in a fulfilling cultural space, is something that I absolutely love to do. I think its important to not just tick the boxes when you travel, but take the time to stop and appreciate the culture and the atmosphere.

The Trevvi fountain was under construction so that was very underwhelming. I'll need to go  back for sure.

The Coliseum was so cool! I had managed to go the whole trip without waiting more than 10 minutes for an attraction, but alas the Coliseum got the better of me. I had to wait a whole 30 minutes. It was packed and not very well organized outside, but once you get inside it was quite amazing. I opted for the audio guide just to try to be able to understand what I was looking at a little bit better. It definitely was worth it, though the stops weren't well marked so that got confusing sometimes. I spent the better part of the day wandering through the Coliseum and the Roman Forums. It turns out my ticket for the Coliseum also got me into the Forums! Sweet!

Another notable stop was of course The Vatican City. I toured through the museum with an audio guide (again, very useful) and had a lovely morning just exploring. I ended up coming back later to see St. Peter's Basilica. I must say it was totally worth coming back for. That is probably my favorite church I've ever been to. I had a great time just taking it all in.

Anyway, I will probably go through eventually and up date all my recent posts with pictures one of these days!

Lots of love,
Malena

Florence Fun

I had a blast in Florence. I think if I did it again I would leave more time. I was already cramming four cities into a little over a week so I only stayed in Florence for two days. One of those days I actually spent the afternoon out in Pisa!

I stayed at the most adorable little hostel called The David Inn. It's run by this lovely woman called Nadia. She really takes care of everyone who comes through. She was there to greet me by name with a plate of cookies. She is so sweet and personable. I highly recommend the hostel for anyone staying Florence! 

The first night I just tried to get a feel for the city and ended up buying myself a lovely leather jacket. I'm very  happy with my "big souvenir" of the trip! It is so soft and fits me perfectly. I went back to the hostels and met some very nice people. One was from Canada and two were from South Korea. We had a great time getting to know eachother.

The next day I got up early and went and saw the Statue of David! It was really pretty incredile. I learned about it in depth in middle school and I always wanted to go see it for myself. 

Right afterwards I found the grocery store (finally!) and bought myself some food for the next few days. I sort of followed this sweet old italian lady around and picked the brands of pasta and sauce she did... slightly creepy but it totally worked! They are delicious! And both the Florence and Rome hostels have kitchens so I'm set :)

I then hoofed it to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Michelangelo square for a pretty view and some shopping. The bridge was a little pricey for me and it turned out there was a crane in the way and a BILLION steps so I ended up just going halfway to the Michelangelo square, but it was still beautiful.

I then booked it across town to catch my train to the leaning tower of Pisa. It was pretty wonderful. I took some funny pictures ( I mean you have to right?) and then I went to a cafe that had a lovely view and ordered a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was so so good. Basically they just melted a chocolate bar in a cup and served it. Hey man, no problem here.

I caught my train back to Florence and wandered back to my hostel. We ended up going out as a group for the world's biggest pizza! It was so delicious We ordered some pasta for the table as well. It was a good authentic Italian meal and I got to share it with some new friends I met in the hostel. It's been great so far with hostels!

This morning I got up early and me and a girl from the hostel went to the Iffuzi museum. It was beautiful and I enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere. We made a quick stop back at the Ponte Vecchio bridge for some perusing then I went back to my hostel to grab my bags and hug Nadia goodbye.

I made it to the train station and had an easy ride to Roma! The walk to the hostel wasn't my favorite. I got turned around a bit and was too stubborn to catch a cab. I got here eventually, but boy am I tired.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Vatican!

Lots of love,

Malena

Venice to Florence 1/5

Today was the greatest. I managed to navigate my way through the city and find the most beautiful bookstore I have ever seen. It was just absolutely unbelievable. I can't believe how many books there were! They were stacked all over the place! They were stored in random things like bathtubs and gondolas! This may be my favorite part of my whole trip. I grabbed me a beautiful old book by Sinclair Lewis as the perfect souvenir. When I went to cehck out there was a cat eating breakfast where you should pay and a very Italian man smoking away. He told me "If women are flowers, you are a bouquet." Craziness! There was also a weird erotica section... It was quite the experience and probably my favorite part. It was quirky and literary! There was even a staircase built of books out back so you could climb up and watch the gondolas go by! BEAUTIFUL. You could also watch the gondolas from the best reading nook in the world...

Anyway, afterwards I husteld back to my hostel and grabbed my stuff and headed off to Florence! I got to the train station alright and boarded with no trouble at all - except apparently I left my toiletry bag... Womp Womp. I have everything else including my makeup and liquids. I'm really just out my shampoo bar (Which wasn't all that great actually - I don't think I like this variety as much as the green kind), my deoderant, tooth brush and toothpaste, and my hairbrush. All in all less than $10 worth of stuff. Hey if I have to lose something that's the bag I would choose to lose. I must have missed packing it in my bag. You can bet I'll be triple checking when I pack up from Florence!

Once I was in Florence I got to my hostel, no problem. My first stop was a grocery store to stock up! Now I won't have to buy breakfast, lunch or dinner for several days. That will save me a ton! I wandered about the Duomo and even bought myself a nice fancy leather jacket! I'm so excited about it. I have been trying to figure out what I want my big souvenir to be and I think I found the perfect. one ;)

Anyway, I go to see the statue of David first thing tomorrow morning so it's bed time for me!

Lots of love,
Malena

Venice Day 2

 Today was a pretty great day. I started off on the right foot by going up the Campanile Tower with hardly any wait. I got some pretty phenomenal photos! Afterwards I headed over to Doge's Palace and again had no wait because I booked online. I had a wonderful time. I just went my own pace and took in the beautiful art. On top of that I got to go to 3 more museums for the cost of the one! And even then it was discounted because I'm under 26. SCORE! One of the bonus museums was even a historical library which is pretty darn awesome in my book. I definitely enjoyed today. I came back to the hostel for dinner and ran into some nice girls from South Korea and Michigan. The Korean girl had had her entire luggage stolen! But from the street, not the hostel. She left it for just a few minutes to get a coffee and it wasn't there when she came back. I felt bad for her, but hopefully she learned not to trust cities! She still had her passport and she has a friend in Milan who speaks Italian so she has some help in filing police reports. 

Me and the girl from Michigan tried to help her out a little - she had just been in Australia and South Africa or something so she had a skirt and flip flops in her purse which she had with her. So she has that and what she was wearing and that's it. The other girl gave her some pants and a flannel and the hostel even let her dig through their lost and found so that was really sweet of them. I luckily had an unopened toothbrush that I gave her so I'm glad I could help at least a little bit!I felt so bad for her. At least she had her passport in her purse. That would have been a disaster.

She also had her phone and charger so that's good! The Michigan girl told us about this beautiful bookstore in Venice so I think tomorrow we are going to try and go find it!!

I need to leave the hostel for the train station by 11am so hopefully we can make it!

Hostels are really a wonderful place.

Malena

The Beauty That Is Wrinkle Releaser

Everyone who has ever packed a backpack and headed out for adventure knows the struggle - your clothes WILL be wrinkly. You just have to accept it... or do you?

I give you Wrinkle Releaser.

It even comes in travel sizes - though I opted for the big bottle and put small amounts into a travel bottle.

Now, I know its not perfect, but it really does help. All you do is as soon as possible you take the clothes you want to wear out of your pack and hang them up. Once they are on the hanger (granted this is much easier done in a hotel, it is still possible in most hostels) you thoroughly spray them with the Wrinkle Releaser. A few tugs to help smooth out the wrinkles, and you are good to go! The next morning your clothes will be acceptable (though not neatly pressed obviously). 

A lot of my travels are work related and it would not be appropriate for me to parade around in wrinkly clothes. This, combined with athletic-type fabric, leaves me looking presentable for my line of work!

The Ultimate Day Pack

I have discovered the secrets to the perfect day pack: Support, Size, and Stow-ability.

Enjoy this terrible mirror selfie (at least there is a world map in the background!)

Support - Get a pack that has a frame with hip and chest support straps. I can't emphasize this enough! For my job I have to carry quite a heavy load of things. I made the mistake in past trips of not investing in a "backpacking backpack." Instead I opted for a cute little leather backpack. While the backpack did mostly hold up, it ended up ripping slightly from the weight AND my shoulders ached horribly.

This trip I invested in a sturdy backpack and it worked like a charm. If at any point my hips got sore, I would unhook my waist latch and let more weight rest on my shoulders and visa versa.

On top of the Blankenberg Castle in Germany

Size - Figure out exactly what you need to carry, then add enough room for a jacket and hat (good rule of thumb even if you are traveling in a warmer climate! It is always good to have a little extra room). In my case I have to carry things like a med kit, iPad, camera among other documents and binders for work. As a result I prefer a larger bag. Now my pack is actually one that was on clearance so I'm not sure of the model (you won't be able to find it at any rate) but I knew it would be too big to count as my "purse-like item" for the plane. 

Stow-ability - I solved this problem by simply packing my day pack inside of my big pack for airplane trips. I unloaded some of the bulkier items into a small sling bag to stow under the seat in front of me on the plane. It was the perfect solution! I could have my big day pack for the duration of the trip but I could still carry all my luggage on the plane and thus avoid checking a bag.

Those tips are what worked for me! If you are traveling with a small enough pack, you will be able to just stow it underneath the seat in front of you for those pesky plane rides.

All the best,

Malena

Last Days in London 4/30-5/1

 4/29

Today we set out to accomplish as much as possible in London. We started out the day by going to Buckingham palace for the. Changing of the guards. It was really neat but very hard to see what was happening because it was so crowded!

Next stop, Harrods! We wandered around and it was HUGE! We had a great time exploring all the departments and I picked up a few things for my nieces. Afterwards we decided to check out the local shops: boots, super drug and Primark. I picked up a sleek blush that you can't get in the US. 

Next we hopped on a bus (did I mention the tube strike was going on so we had to walk or ride buses a lot?!) and made it just in time to go up in the London Eye. It was twilight and just beautiful. Once we got down we walked along the bridge and saw Big Ben by moonlight. 

Then it was time to call it a night. We made our way back to our hostel (did I mention the stop by the hostel was closed because of the strike? Ugh!) 

Malena

4/30

Today was another busy day so we got an early start. We headed out to see the other attractions I had bought tickets for: The Globe Theater and the London Tower. I absolutely loved both of them! Jonas stayed behind for the Globe tour because he had just been there last year so we met up at Starbucks afterwards and grabbed some lunch. We had a great time exploring The London Tower in the afternoon. We saw all the big ticket items like the Crown Jewels and the Wall Walk. We even caught a mini performance by a marching band while we were up on the wall! So cool!

After buying a postcard on the way out e were able to use the tube to get at least much closer to the hostel. It was time to pack up to get ready to go home. 

We rounded out the night by getting some pizza. It was supposed to be while we watches the Chelsea game, but seriously what sports bar doesn't have the channel that shows the game? Fail. The booths were really cool though because they were set into the wall away from the crowds. The whole bar was Shakespeare themed which was pretty neat. However, the waiter wasn't super friendly so we decided to stop at a different pub on the way home for one final beer (ok diet coke) in an English pub. 

Now I am headed home! I walked to the (now running) tube station by the hostel to make my way to the airport. It was raining and my umbrella was packed so I was mighty glad that the nearby station was running today! 

Security was a bit of a hassle (apparently you have to use their ziplock bags for liquids, not just any bag- even if they are the same size).  But overall I had no problems getting on my flight! Only something like 4 more hours until I get picked up at the airport! 

I had a great time and can't wait to travel even more this year :)

Malena

A Beautiful View 4/22

Today we started out with a training session for the kids. I left a little early to handle something at the hotel.  We then decided to go to Aldi (who knew Germany would have the same grocery store as NC!) and  hunt for some regular water that wasnt fizzy! We managed to find some and picked up some food for lunches. I got some salami, bread and strawberries and a few fun authentic German snacks.
My favorite part of the day was by far going to see the Blankenburg Castle! It was so incredibly beautiful! Rolling hills, little towns and a train. We even explored a cute nearby town before heading back to the training grounds.

For dinner our German friends took us to this awesome spot right by the river! It was really hard to find the road and some of the driving tactics were scary! We got there fine and I had the best pork of my life! It was called something-steak but was pork with seasoned garlic butter and fries on the side.  So delicious! I even had apple streudel for dessert! Yum!
Next we went to a local bar and I had my first authentic German beer.
I'm super tired and my Bluetooth key board is on the fritz so sorry for the short post! I'll post pictures when I can.

Malena

Germany Bound! 4/20 - 4/21

I left for Germany by way of Chicago. I met up with the team I am traveling with in the airport. They seem very nice and all is well. I had an amazing plane for that leg of the trip! Pretty empty and international quality - ie free tv and charging stations!
I lucked out again seat wise to Germany! No seat buddy for an overnight flight! I stretched out! I didn't sleep all that well, but thanks to new medication I wasn't even too sick in the morning :) I managed to get through it and we had no problem meeting the host team in the airport. We made it to Hennef!
We had a bar-b-que with the host team which was lovely, then watched the kids scrimmage. I then took the supporters to check in with the hotel. Just a few minor hiccups (two beds pushed together does not really count as a double room haha) and we were good to go!
I had a meeting with the supporters then we headed out to dinner.
 We took a cab there after struggling to find the walking route, but we mastered it on the way back! It is nice that we can walk into town. Tomorrow I am going to look into buying a SIM card for my phone so I can make international calls for work when I need to.
We had dinner in a nice German restaurant and a lot of people stayed to watch a big soccer game on TV. I had some work to do and was (am) SUPER tired so me and two others headed out early. We walked home and had a grand time! We stopped in a gas station and I bought an ICECREAM KITKAT CONE! The glory.
We made a few errors, but we learned more about the city! I feel pretty confident I can find my way around at least fairly well now.
Tomorrow I think we are going to go see some cool old castles after the kids train in the morning!
What fun!

Malena

PS Tablet is being weird so pictures are coming soon!

Packing for Germany/London

Hello everyone!

I am only days away from embarking on my next adventure! I will be flying from DC to Chicago to Dusseldorf, Germany. From there we go to Hennef. I am taking a mini vacation after the work portion of the trip to head to London, England!

Right now I am in the final packing phase and I am trying to learn from my last trip. Namely, I need a new day pack. I used these bag for my trip to Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The green bag is my main pack and I will be using that again this time, however the black bag, while super cute, was much too inconvenient. One of the straps is partially torn and it didn't have great strap support so by the end of the trip my shoulders HURT.

I was shopping around for a small day pack when I came across this beauty in the sale section!

(Sorry for the low quality selfie)

I know it is a little big for a traditional "day pack" BUT it has AMAZING support! Everything I need will obviously fit really easily inside and I will have plenty of room to put my jacket and scarf inside it as well. I typically carry my iPad mini, DSLR + Lens, Med Kit (I work with kids who play soccer), miscellaneous pouch, and my purse (with important documents such as my passport inside). This pack was actually cheaper than any small versions that I found (apparently its last years model... like I care! Ha!) AND as a bonus it has lime green detailing - always a plus in my book!

Now I know what you're thinking - isn't that too big to carry on along with your green pack? You might be right. I'm not sure if I would be able to get away with this being my "purse like item." So instead (mainly to avoid the hassle of airlines and for carrying convenience) I will actually be traveling with this bag INSIDE of my green pack. It fits inside just fine - even when my pack is "Full." I never actually pack my pack full in case I want to buy some awesome souvenirs and decide to stuff my bag and check it on the way home rather than carry it on.

Now, the only problem I run into is that larger items that go in my "day pack" won't fit in my green pack and keep it in an airlines carry-on friendly size. Instead I will carry my Purse, iPad mini and camera in a little sling backpack. That way when I arrive in Germany I can simply roll the sling bag up and slide it in my day pack and re pack my day pack with my med kit etc. I know that seems confusing but I think it will work for me! I will get a nice comfy day pack with plenty of room to spare AND I can still carry everything on! No problemo.

I'm so excited! Expect a lot more posts as my adventure kicks off!

Malena