Packing for a trip ; Ladies Bags and Make up

What bag should you take on a trip? I know many seasoned travellers recommend you take one large carry on pack and nothing else, to ease travelling along the way, but i don’t do that as I know that I will not be walking much with my bag.

Don’t get me wrong, I do pack light, but I prefer to have a bag I can wheel behind me as I have a bad back, and one that i can add a few souvenirs to on my trip too (usually books or cards). OK, occasionally you have to go up and down stairs at train stations, Metro stations and the like, but these are few and far between, and if your bag is light then it isn’t such a big deal. If your bag is heavy then I suggest you ask for help with the stairs.

I don’t mind waiting for my bag to come off the luggage carousel either, as long as I am not going to be doing it too often.. if I have a lot of short side trips by air then I plan on leaving my big bag in left luggage and take my day pack with me on the trips.

In addition to my wheely bag I take a day backpack in which I have my (large) squashy handbag, inside which I have my small pouchy handbag. Once through the security checks I take both of these bags out of the backpack allowing me space for duty free items in it, and the ability to get at my passport or money without having to take my backpack off all the time.

My best large squashy handbag is so roomy it can hold a lot of things. It also has a lot of pockets with zips, for separating everything neatly.My small pouchy bag is leather and has two small pockets. It can be a good evening bag, or a good bag for cycling, or shopping. I wear it slung across my body and over my shoulder so it can’t be stolen easily, and it holds my camera, my phone, some money and a credit card, and my lipstick.

My large squashy handbag has all my liquids, my travel documents, my jewellery, my iPod, contact lenses, some medicines, reading material, and a shawl in case the plane is cold, plus a selection of crayons and paper and a few clothes for my children if I’m travelling with them. I never open my backpack again except to put duty free in it until I get off the plane.

I also don’t agree with the seasoned travellers who suggest that women travellers do not need to take make up with them on holiday. This is the first thing I would pack after some basic clothing. I pare down my make up and split it into two piles; one for items I need on arrival in my carry on bag, some of which have to be split separately into my liquids bag (mascara and lipstick), and the second pile for items going in my makeup bag in the hold.

I buy travel sized cosmetic creams and skincare products in duty free when they are available, to use when flying as they can go in my day pack. I buy all other toiletries at my destination and leave them there when I leave. It costs a little more but it saves space and weight in your hold bag.

My favourite ‘look good’ make up products to take with me when travelling are;

Glow Minerals foundation and blusher.. guaranteed to really cover any blemishes with a sweep of a brush, and to give you great looking skin in 30 seconds.

Mascara; I need this to define my eyes.

Lips; Lip gloss in any shade to give your lips some shine

I also include a couple of eyeliners, and a set of eyeshadow in neutralish shades, plus at least one striking nail varnish colour for nights out or pretty toes on the beach.

And finally, a very small bottle of perfume.. nothing better to make you feel fresher when on a plane for several hours.

Technorati Tags: bag,travel,glow,makeup,perfume,airplane,packing,light

Home Exchanging

There is a cheaper way to holiday than hotels or motels or campsites, it’s called home exchanging, and as I have now completed a few of these exchanges I thought I would list the pros and cons..

Here’s how it works..

There are many websites where you can list your home for exchanging with other home owners around the world. You input brief details of your home and add a few photos, and then you can list where and when you would like to travel. The website allows you to search for homes in the areas you wish to visit and you can then send an email to those owners whose properties interest you asking them if they wish to home exchange with you.

If you are lucky you will find someone who does wish to exchange with you for a defined time period in an area where you wish to visit. Popular exchanges for my home seem to be with tourists from other European cities, or with travellers from New Zealand or Australia.

As many of the homes listed on the website are actually second or holiday homes, often the exchanges are not carried out simultaneously, but if it is main homes being exchanged then they would have to be exchanged at the same time. Even pets, plants and cars can be exchanged. It is a little like having a home sitter.

Some successful exchanges I have completed are;

10 days in a 3 bedroom apartment in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France

2 weeks in the wing of a beautiful old mansion just outside Verona, Italy, with 4 bedrooms, a billiard room, and state of the art kitchen

6 weeks in an heritage house on Nelson’s (New Zealand) seafront with stunning sea views

2 weeks on Waiheke Island (New Zealand) in a house 20 yards from a pristine beach

Are there any downsides?

Well, occasionally you may find yourself sleeping on a sagging bed, but this has only happened to me once, and that was in a studio attached to a main home so I might be a little more cautious about staying in a place that the owners don’t use themselves ever.

Sometimes you are left with no wardrobe space to hang your clothes in.

Occasionally things can stop working and you need to fix them, whereas in a hotel or rental situation you could just walk away.

Sometimes, things will get broken by accident, and if you have very special belongings then these should be put away from harm.

The pluses?

Overall, this is an excellent way of allowing you to travel and have essentially free accommodation.

You also get to make friends with many of the people you exchange with around the world.

I would highly recommend it.

Meat Pies, Coffee, and Lamingtons

 

It's been soooo long since I added a blog here, i've almost forgotten how to do it! It's been a pretty hectic few weeks as I suddenly found a house to move to and so had to run around like a headless chicken getting my house ready to sell, and also getting tons of paperwork together for the bank.

There was also a 5 day trip to the mountains to escape Nice whilst my house there was rented out for the Monaco Grand Prix, and then packing for a 2 month trip to New Zealand to contend with.

My 5 day trip to the mountains around Valberg was so perfect it was magical. The official summer season hadn't started up there yet, so the town was a bit sleepy really, and the supermarket had empty shelves, especially where there should have been fruit and veg! But that didn't matter. We had 5 perfect days of sunshine, lots of fresh air, several superb mountain walks, and a wonderful Sunday lunch in a restaurant on top of a mountain in Sauze. All the alpine meadows were in bloom and the array and variety of the flowers hidden amongst the green grass or the shale or the rocks was truly amazing. I think it was my favourite trip so far.. I explored quite a few roads, and made it to Entraunes, and Estenc, the Source of the Var river, and several Cols.. Col de Champ, Col de Collioure, Col de Cayols.. the last still having a fair bit of melting snow, and several marmots scampering down the mountainside. Every turn brought a stunning view, with empty roads, and new discoveries. I realised how lucky I am to live where I do. Sadly my camera had been thrown away mistakenly in a trash bag so no evidence was taken.

One of my walks there was punctuated by a text message from hubby asking what colour Netbook I would like. This was tricky as I had no ideas what colours existed. But then he sent another message saying it had to be black anyway as all other colours had to be ordered online. So I jokingly replied that I wanted a pink one really.. and then he texted back to say he had bought me a pink one. Well much as I probably never would have chosen a pink one initially, I am really pleased with it. And I have now gone and bought a pink wireless mouse as well.. this could be the start of a pink phase for me.. have to say though that they really need to get up to speed with some girly accessories as well.. why would I want a black or red cover for something so girly?

Suddenly it was the day before leaving for New Zealand.. surprisingly I had prepared everything and it all seemed under control this time. I managed to get on the plane to London with no sense of panic about what still needed doing, and enjoyed the flight.

48 hours later and I arrived in Auckland, after a 24 hour stopover in Malaysia, feeling reasonably good. The customs dogs were there to sniff us, but they let us through.

The first thing we saw on entering the airport was a packet of crisps called 'Kiwi As' , with the rather amazing flavour of meat pie and tomato sauce. Also a hot cabinet of various meat pies greeted us, and hubby tucked into a bacon and egg pie in the blink of an eyelid.

 

New Zealand does have a much greater array of savoury snack items than I think anywhere else in the world I have been to. And a huge selection of slices and cakes as well. Cheese scones, cheese muffins, savoury muffins, fruit muffins, fruit scones, Lamingtons, Anzac biscuits, ginger crunch, lolly slice, Rocky Road, Brownies, caramel shortbread, apricot yoghurt slice.. just a few of the wide selections you can get here in most coffee shops.

This is a coffee nation. It takes an age to get a coffee here though.. as each one is a work of art, or their coffee machines are just down right slow! How can breakfast be served and almost eaten before a coffee is served? I think it's because they froth the milk up for each order.. it HAS to be at exactly the right temperature. The standard coffee order here is a 'Flat white' or a 'Long black'. The flat white isn't actually that flat at all as it has a froth of milk on the top..but then they also serve cappucinos, which I think is just slightly more frothy than the flat white. The long black is usually a good choice.. a longish expresso.. not too long however so you can still taste the coffee.

The other big food difference here is in the kiddies meals.. they actually try to make them healthy.. no burgers and chips, or sausage and chips, or pizza.. it's a mixed platter of carrot, cucumber, celery, fruit, cheese and biscuits, with juice and probably a little cake as well.

I am always amazed at the creativity here. There are of course many square or rectangular sheds, but every now and again there is a decorative corner, or postbox that makes you jump or smile. They love bright coloured paintwork here, red, blue, green, purple, usually a mixture of several colours in one room or building if they can. It gives the place a cheerful, youthful feel so often missing in Europe.

The plan tomorrow is to take a horse riding lesson with Leon.. my first in ooohh about 35 years! Read the report here..