Traveling with Nina

It doesn’t matter how organized or prepared I am, every time it’s my turn to put my stuff in the bins, I start to panic and riffle through my stuff to make sure everything is in order. There are always a lot of people behind you waiting. It’s like you can feel their eyeballs on the back of your head and their hot breath on your neck telling you to “hurry up.” Everyone else always seems like a professional at this, and that they know something you don’t.

Really, the main thing is getting through it quickly and efficiently. People do not want to wait behind you while you struggle to figure things out on the spot. If you can be as prepared as possible, it will be easy and smooth and you won’t have anyone behind you saying, “COME ON, ALREADY! IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME AT AN AIRPORT?”

by Nina Thomas 2 Comments

Traveling

Leaving the house checklist

January 01, 2015

No matter how much planning I do and how many lists I make, there are always some things I forget to do. Which is not good because when I forget things, like take the trash out, when I get home I’m greeted with a wafting smell of old beans. As I was getting ready for my most recent trip, I took note of a lot of the things I do to make sure my house is ready for me when I return. I thought of making a list just for me to have to check off for the next time. Thought I would share it in case you need a list, too.

by Nina Thomas 2 Comments

Group Travel, Planning, Road Trips

Traveling with other couples

January 01, 2015

My husband and I travel by ourselves, as well as travel with other people. We love being alone and being just the two of us, but always when we’re gone for a long periods of time, we miss our family and friends. We do meet people along the way, but it’s hard to not at least be a little bit homesick. We went on a trip with another couple last year and it was a great time. There were some added challenges to trip planning and figuring out hotel rooms, but there were some added bonuses as well.

by Nina Thomas 1 Comment

Capsule Wardrobe, Minimalist, Packing

Friends don’t let friends overpack

January 01, 2015

I used to insist on bringing so much stuff… just in case I might wear it. Why did I do that? I know I’m not going to wear most of the stuff, I just insist that I have the right to pack it all “just in case.” Well I’m here to tell you that “just in case” is a stupid reason to drag a heavy bag around for days on end. I can think of a lot of reasons why you wouldn’t want to check a bag, and it would be better to bring a carry-on.

by Nina Thomas Leave a Comment

Capsule Wardrobe, International Travel, Minimalist, Packing

Men’s fashion: ditch the sneakers and the logo shirts

January 01, 2015

I’m going to take a moment to brag on my husband. I’ve seen a lot of men trudging around Europe with their wives in white tennis shoes, logo t-shirts and baseball caps. While this is fine for at home, in Europe you look very American, very touristy and very silly. Maybe you aren’t aware that when you wear that outfit, you might as well wear a logo shirt that says, “I love to be pick-pocketed.”

My husband and I like to look presentable, and not stick out like a sore thumb. It’s really not that hard. Instead of packing all t-shirts and medium colored denim, pack the button downs, the dark jeans and the dark shoes. You can find great pairs of comfortable men’s walking shoes, that don’t look like white running shoes. Take for example, this pair of Teva Clifton Creek Slip-ons. They’re comfortable, they look good and you don’t look like you’re getting ready for a track meet.

One of the highlights for us was when we were on a Spanish airline and two flight attendants spoke to us in Spanish. We said, “no hablo Espanol.” We felt good that we didn’t look American… that we could have been mistaken for being European. Not that we’re not proud to be American, but we’d rather not broadcast that all over. We don’t want to walk in a room and someone go, “Oh god…there’s a loud, brightly colored American who thinks they own the place.” I’d rather someone just pay no attention when I walk in.

by Nina Thomas 2 Comments

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