Tan those gams!!!!!

I am absolutely a product of the tanning days of yore and love the sun-kissed (but not leathery!) look. In my 20s lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons, I almost always had a golden-sunshiny-coconut-scented glow. Nowadays I’m all about sun block and skin protection. However, with all the great self-tanning products on the market I can still get the look I love minus damaging my skin.

Even though the calendar shows we are approaching cooler days ahead, I still have some warm-weather destinations on my travel schedule.  My go-to self tanning product is Bath and Body Works ‘True Blue Spa Bronzing Self-Tanning Lotion – Strike Gold”. http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11160991&cp=12587010.12936188.4305156 Love it!

 

There are multiple techniques for applying self-tanners to avoid streaks, splotches, and uneven coverage. For me, I apply the tanner in the morning after my shower. I like to start by putting a light layer of lotion on my legs. I love Bath and Body Works “True Blue Spa Nourishing Body Lotion – Tahiti Sweetie” http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11160983&cp=12587010.12936188.4305156

The secret for me is to apply the body lotion lightly and then let it soak in for about 10 minutes before applying the tanning lotion. (NOTE: most self-tanning products say to apply to clean, dry, lotion-free skin. For me a light lotion base works much better.)

As a traveler obsessed with taking only carry on luggage, I have found a trick to get my tanning lotion through security in its original container: once I have used half the product at home, I stash the half used container in my travel case instead of using it all up. (Yep, this means I have two containers open a lot of the time.). Then I fold the container in half and secure it with a hair tie or rubber band and put it in my Ziploc with all my other liquids. I’m not exactly sure this is ‘legal’; however, it has worked for me over 10+ times.

Kari On and Keep Traveling 

Say it isn’t so…

Hate to do it, but feel compelled to share the ‘not so pretty’ side of travel that I recently learned about. Seriously, this is painful…

Apparently, so the rumors go, flight attendants use the hotel room coffee pots for cleaning their stockings. So much for wanting to use the coffee pot now.

However, there is a bright side! I’m seeing more and more of the single use coffee pots in hotels these days. If you look carefully at the images in my Coffee Pot Breakfast blog post, the coffee pot was a single use one. Whew.

One more thing to add on ‘caution’ list when traveling…

Kari On and Keep Traveling

‘Iron’ic

It’s kind of ironic that I travel so much and still make some major rookie mistakes!

I love crisp white collared shirts. Love them! This week when I was on travel I went to iron my shirt and I didn’t check the iron before I put the metal to the fabric.  Here’s what happened:

So today’s reminder tip is to always check the bottom of the hotel iron BEFORE you press your clothes. Lesson learned (again!) for me.

Kari On and Keep Traveling

Coffee Pot Breakfast

Oatmeal is one of my absolute favorite foods. Lately I’ve been buying steel cuts oats at home and cooking them with 40 calorie per serving vanilla almond milk. Delish! When I’m on travel I cant quite indulge in the slow cooking oats, but I can still have yummy oatmeal.

I recently discovered BetterOats Oat Fit instant oatmeal www.betteroats.com. The flavor types are amazing ranging from chocolate to fruits & berries to maple and spices. I love the Oat Fit Maple & Brown Sugar. With just 100 calories per pouch it’s the perfect hotel room breakfast – it’s great-tasting and satisfying.

Making the oatmeal with just the in-room coffee pot is a breeze. Currently I’m staying at a Fairfield Inn & Suites property and all my room has in terms of a ‘kitchen’ is a coffee maker on the bathroom counter. After making my coffee (I do have priorities!) I removed the coffee basket and put about ½ cup of water in to machine (I like my oatmeal thick and gooey) to heat it up. I use a two cup process: pour the oats in to an empty cup and heat the water in a second cut. Once the water is hot, pour it in to the oats and voila! Oatmeal. Of course if you want, you could just have the water drip from the coffee pot directly on to the oats and then stir when done.

Here are the pics from my breakfast this morning:

I usually have a spoon in my purse (I admit, it’s an odd purse item!) but if I don’t, a coffee stir stick can work in a pinch. Makes eating the oatmeal more challenging, but it is possible.

Kari On and Keep Traveling

“Kitchens” away from home

A couple times a year we stay at a hotel or vacation property that has a kitchen. Sometimes we get a fully equipped kitchen, sometime we get a mini kitchen, sometimes it’s a mini-bar and sometimes it’s just a coffee pot and the bathroom sink that we transform in to our kitchen away from home. Over the years we’ve been able to maximize our options and capitalize on even the smallest spaces to make a quick meal in our room.

No one really wants to spend their vacation grocery shopping, cooking, and doing dishes; however, with a little pre-planning it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming chore – it can actually be quick, easy, and save a lot of money.

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging on the different type of hotel-in-room  ‘kitchens’ and sharing tips our family has learned along the way to make things simple.

Here’s to having a plan and saving some money for additional vacations.

Kari On and Keep Traveling

Behind the Door Discovery

One of the mini-mysteries of travel I love is the moment of mystery when I get to my hotel room. Almost always I look at the hotel website before I leave home to give me an idea about what to expect at the property and what the typical room looks like. However, you never really know what you’re going to get until you actually open the door and step inside. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised and sometimes I’m in a bit of shock. Lately (maybe because I’m now ‘Platinum Elite’ Status with Marriott?!?!) the rooms I’ve stayed in have been very spacious and quite comfortable.

Sometimes it’s not just the room, but the view that can make or break the travel experience. We just came home last night from the Marriott in Palm Desert…check out the view from our room:

Kari On and Keep Traveling

Queuing Up And the Elbowers

It really is an interesting social experiment to watch the passenger herding patterns about 20 minutes before boarding a plane. Prior to this mysterious 20 minute mark most people are sitting calmly in the gate area reading magazines, thumb typing on smart phones, playing electronic games, and for the most part keeping to themselves. At about 22 minutes before the scheduled boarding time some odd spell takes over and people begin to shuffle toward the boarding lanes. Here’s where things get interesting. Most airlines now have some form of a zone numbering system. All the Zone 1 passengers go first, followed by Zone 2, etc. until the plane is boarded. For some odd reason, a significant number of passengers feel compelled to ignore the numbering process and elbow themselves to the front of the line.

Sure, we could remind these elbowers that we’re all going to the same place (doesn’t seem to matter to them). We could politely inform them they need to wait until their number is called (suddenly they don’t understand English). We could ignore them and see if they make it through the gate agent out of sequence (my personal favorite…I’ve noted the elbowers succeed about 30% of the time!). Or we could develop a better plan.

I’m not sure what works best for boarding the plane. It doesn’t seem to matter if an airline tries to load from back to front or load the window seats first followed by the middle and then the aisle. No matter the approach, the elbowers are lurking to get a jump on getting ahead of the line.

The best system I’ve seen for handling the elbowers is at the United Airlines terminal in Hong Kong. (Note: I’m an United frequent flyer and the ONLY place I’ve seen this done is Hong Kong. United, are you listening? Check out your gate agents in Hong Kong. They. Are. Amazing.). At the gate in Hong Kong there are designated areas for each of the zone numbers. It’s simple, the gate agents use the retractable queuing tape and create an area for the people in each zone to mill about. The brilliance of the system is the agent walks among the passengers, looks at their boarding pass, and makes sure they are in the proper zone. This completely avoids the massive clustering that takes place otherwise and people seem to actually be willing to comply to be placed somewhere while they wait for their turn. I’m certain there is still some elbowing that takes place within each holding area, but it’s contained within each zone.

Somehow, someway, all the ticketed passengers ultimately get on the plane. While the process can get frustrating, it helps to take a big yoga breath and try to relax because watching the whole process can actually be quite entertaining.

Looking forward to hear about other interesting queuing processes.

Until next time,

Kari On and Keep Traveling 

When in Rome…

Opportunity is where you find it.  We just recently returned from 3 weeks in Italy. I had a work assignment in Rome and since this trip landed during summer vacation for the boys (12 and 10), we decided to seize the opportunity and add some vacation time to both ends of my work trip.

Our family is all about soccer. My husband coaches youth soccer and plays in an adult league (currently playing with the undefeated Flanagan’s Pub team!) and both boys play on competitive traveling teams. Never one to miss a chance to play or watch the game, Graham researched options for playing in Italy and found a soccer camp for the kids that fit perfectly with our travel schedule.

While I was busy working, Graham rented a car and drove the boys from Rome to an amazing town over 2 ½ hours away in the Italian countryside – Norcia.  There were 80 boys in the camp. 77 Italians, 1 boy from the UK, and our two American boys.  Nothing like diving right in to the culture. Although the camp was located in Italy, it was actually the remote camp location for the Arsenal Football Club from the UK. 3 of the coaches were from the English club – another great bonus for our boys since the players were English speaking and didn’t speak Italian. The other coaches and counselors were all Italians.

The training facilities for the camp included 2 pitches, swimming pools, basketball courts, a gymnasium, and a hotel. The kids all stayed on site at the hotel – my boys shared a room with 2 Italian boys that didn’t speak much English. All in all the roommate situation worked; however, we’re still hearing tid-bits of stories that slightly make me cringe (ding-dong ditching at 3 am!). Camp was 6 nights and 7 days, Sunday thru Saturday. Breakfast was served in the hotel and for lunch and dinner the kids walked into the ancient walled town of Norcia.

After wrapping up my work in Rome, Graham again rented a car and we drove to pick up the boys. We arrived on Friday late afternoon and covertly caught the evening training session. With very limited communication with the kids while they were at camp, it was a great relief to see them completely immersed in the soccer program and fully at ease with the Italian way of life. 

On Saturday we reunited with the boys and they shared first hand how great it was to attend soccer camp in Italy.

For more information on the camp, click here: http://www.soccercampsinternational.com/arsenal-soccer-camp

For more information on Norcia, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norcia

Below is an overview of the lower pitch:

Inside the gymnasium - the ARSENAL way:

Players walking to the walled city for lunch:

Soccer camp in Italy, an amazing experience!

Kari On and Keep Traveling

Getting Started

Travel is always an adventure – time to share the great, the good, the bad, and the you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me. 

Kari On and Keep Traveling