Travel Tips : How to Pick a Great Hotel

August 12, 2014

Le Notre Dame Hotel – Paris, France

I’m knee deep in research for our Spain trip in March right now, looking into hotels and options for our trip and it dawned on me that I’ve not written much about booking hotels and how to find great ones for your travels. I think we need to change that! And after showing you some of my favorite hotels yesterday, I thought today would be a great day to delve into the process of picking a hotel for your travels.

I take pride in the fact that I’m pretty good at picking out some great hotels throughout our travels and when people ask me how I find such great properties, I often have to explain that there is a lot that goes into picking hotels when you travel. It’s a very time consuming process, but one that I thoroughly enjoy. I recently did a post on some of my favorite hotels that we’ve stayed at over the years and those and many others reside on my Hotels Page, a list of places I would suggest if you’re traveling to any of the cities listed. However, I realize that you may be traveling to places that I don’t have listed yet or your style might be different than mine, so here are some of my tips to picking a great hotel wherever you might be traveling and whatever you may be looking for in a hotel.

Le Meridien – Nice, France

The first and perhaps most important is figuring out what you like in a hotel. Do you want a modern hotel or a traditional one? Do you want a chain or do you want a boutique? Do you want a fantastic room or just a place to sleep? All of those questions and more should be asked before you start looking for a hotel for a trip. Personally I like a well designed boutique hotel, in a great location and something with character and an edge. As a designer, I’m pretty specific on what type of look I want in a hotel and that also changes per location as well, but overall, figure out what you like and what you don’t. That right there will narrow your search.

Riad 72 – Marrakech, Morocco

A tremendous amount of research goes into my hotel choices and I spend hours figuring out where we want to stay. I do it over a period of months (this is where starting early really helps) and spend time when I can looking into a shortlist of hotels I’ve picked out as options.

You might be wondering where to even start looking? I start at Tablet Hotels and Splendia, two hotel websites that specialize in boutique hotels. They won’t even show you the Mariotts or the Hiltons, they cut out all the chains and show you the unique properties in whatever city you’re traveling to. After looking through their sites, I then take my short list of options and I look into each of them further. Where are they located? Is that a good spot to be based? How will we get there from the airport or train station? What are the views like? What is included in the reservation, for example, will breakfast be included or not?

Once I answer those questions and I narrow down the hotels further, I usually end up with 2-3 of our top choices.

Trident Gurgaon – Delhi, India

Once I have narrowed down our options into a small handful of places, I head straight to Trip Advisor. For succinct and easy to read reviews, they really are the best. You can get a good idea of the hotel you’re looking at really quickly just by scanning headlines and reading further if you need to. Generally, I have a pretty good feel for each spot I’m looking at and which ones will be best for us.

I’ve had numerous hotels that I thought sounded perfect before I got to this part of the process and have chosen to find another hotel because of what I read on Trip Advisor. Also on this note however, remember to take certain reviews with a grain of salt. Someone complaining about tiny insignificant things like no robe in the closet or a small room, I overlook most of that. But the big things like mice in the hotel or loud atmospheres, those are the things I take notice of and decide accordingly.

Oberoi Udaivilas – Udaipur, India

Once you’ve whittled down your list of options, I like to look at other aspects of the hotel and what might work better for us verses the others. Do they have a pool? Is there a cool rooftop? What’s the lobby like? Is there a restaurant? You are going on a trip and especially if it’s your vacation, those are things that are going to matter when you’re there. So take a look and one hotel probably will outshine the others at this point in terms of what amenities they offer.

Una Hotel Roma – Rome, Italy

We’ve gotten some amazing deals on hotels over the years and on top of that, some amazing rooms. But the majority of that is because we’ve booked early and far enough in advance to reserve the rooms we want. Want that room with a view or balcony? Chances are if you wait, someone else will snag it. Book your rooms early and then email the hotel and ask if you can reserve particular rooms if needed. More often than not, they’ll do their best to help you out. But booking early will help you secure that perfect spot and it’s a major thing off your travel checklist too, so you can know it’s done and not have to worry about it!

Hotels to Remember : My Favorites

August 11, 2014

We’re home from our quick weekend escape and work trip in Honolulu and back getting on track here at home again. I’ve been wanting to do this post for a while and today seems like the perfect day to do it while I get all our Hawaii photos gathered for posts to come soon.

Hotels are a big part of traveling and I spend a lot of time researching where to stay before we head out on a trip. Between location, aesthetics and price, hotels can be really hard to pick and when there are lots of options, it’s even harder. I love the process of picking hotels and we’ve stayed at some great ones over the years. It’s important to me for the hotel we stay at to be designed well and to have unique features, which is why we primarily stay at boutique hotels or chains that go more the boutique-design route.

Looking back over our travels, there are some hotels that just stand out among the rest. They are the places that we’ve had incredible experiences, the best views and left saying we can’t wait to go back. This might become a reoccurring post down the road or as we find more hotels we love, but for now, here’s some of my favorite hotels we’ve stayed in thus far and the reasons why they blew all the other hotels we stay at out of the water.

Perhaps the most amazing hotel we’ve ever stayed in, the Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur, India are beyond luxurious. The hotel is incredible in itself, but the grounds are seriously breathtaking. Situated right on Lake Pichola with many rooms featuring private infinity pools, this hotel will change what you think a hotel should be. The service is beyond extraordinary and you will feel peace here like you’ve never felt before.

Our trip to Nice was our first to the French Riviera and we couldn’t have picked a better hotel to experience it. While I usually shy away from large brands, Le Meridien is an exception. Their Nice location is beautiful with modern design, but make sure to book a room with a balcony. We took in the gorgeous scenery from ours of the Mediterranean and the views of Old Town Nice. This hotel is conveniently located too and with large rooms (by European standards) and is a great base for the South of France.

Our trip to Marrakech was made truthfully because of our Riad. Riads in Morocco are like guest houses turned to small hotels and Riad 72 is a gem in the middle of bustling Marrakech. From hand carved wooden doors to suites tiled in local colorful tile to marble bathtubs and privately cooked meals, this place is incredible. We spent lots of time on the rooftop (with views of all of Marrakech) and enjoyed the incredible food cooked everyday by the chef. Riad 72 is a palace in and of itself and so calming after the busy streets of the city.

Designed by Christian LaCroix when it was remodeled several years ago, Le Notre Dame Hotel is a gem in Paris and has quickly become our “go-to” hotel in the French capitol. The view (as above) from the rooms speaks for itself and to wake up and go to sleep just a stones throw from the famous cathedral is a pretty incredible feeling. The rooms are tiny but brimming with character and having this view during your time in Paris really can’t be beat. It’s also in a super convenient spot in Paris, within walking distance from most major tourist spots as well as right across the street from the St. Michel metro stop which can get you anywhere you need to go.

We only stayed one night at the Trident Gurgaon when we made our way through India, but this gem of a hotel is one that we remarked several times we wished we had more time at. Though outside of Delhi by about 20 minutes, the hotel is an oasis of calm in bustling India. We awoke from our suite after a long journey to India to sunrise glistening off of the infinity pools that run throughout the property and birds perched throughout the green trees. We wandered the grounds and were in awe that were in the middle of a busy city! It’s a lovely escape from the smoggy settings in Delhi proper.

5 Reasons to Visit London

August 6, 2014

London is a city close to my heart and one that I feel very comfortable in. Nick and I first took in the city of London on our honeymoon almost four years ago and since then, we’ve made a number of trips back through the city and spent a good deal of time there.

There are so many reasons to visit this lovely historic city, but here are my top 5 reasons why you should book that ticket to London!

And be sure to make it to the bottom of the post for a giveaway to go with this post!

London has a very unique look and differs greatly from the other European cities I’ve visited. London is all about the red brick, the ivory toned details and the ornate fixtures. I love wandering the streets of the city, taking in the town homes, the ancient buildings and the new ones fit in between them that seem to look like they still belong there. London’s layout and architecture is to be commended and it’s such a treat to admire it every time I go.

London wouldn’t be London without its Pub culture. There have got to be thousands of them scattered throughout the city and one of my favorite things about trips to London is ducking into the local pub, enjoying fish and chips, followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding. London’s food scene is a great one, but perhaps better than their five star restaurants to me, is a night at the local pub.

London is steeped in history and anywhere from Buckingham Palace to the Tower of London, you can get a glimpse into what the world was like hundreds of years ago. So much history belongs to the UK and I find it incredibly interesting to visit all the historic sites in London and think about all the people that have gone before us, all that they lived through and died for. The history in London is palpable and it’s around every corner of the city.

From the British Museum to the V&A, London is not short on fantastic museums. There are so many interesting exhibits and things to see there and when it’s pouring rain outside, my favorite thing to do in London is escape to wander the museums. Not only are their exhibits great, but London’s museums also offer a feast for the eyes in the buildings they occupy. The structures themselves are worthy of exhibition as well.

London knows how to do parks pretty well. Hyde Park is one of my favorite spots in all of Europe and I never miss a chance to wander through whenever we’re in London. Rent a bike and ride along the trails in the nice weather, or take in the ornate monument to Prince Albert and revel in the detail in the design. Wander by Kensington Palace to see where Kate and Prince William call home or visit the Diana Memorial, Hyde Park has it all.

As if those aren’t reasons enough to visit London… now for a giveaway…

LUXE Travel Guides
Over the years of traveling, I’ve used a lot of different guidebooks for cities I’ve traveled to. But a few years ago I was turned on to the LUXE guides and they seriously changed how I travel! My collection has grown over the years and I don’t plan a trip without grabbing the LUXE guide for wherever we’re headed.

The guides are small and compact, which make them easy to take everywhere with you as well as offering unique and hip suggestions for everything from hotels to restaurants to shopping. The guides hold an incredible amount of information and their graphics for each city they represent make them look great on my bookshelf after we return from the trip.

I reached out to the company recently and they were kind enough to send me a handful of their newest guides to give away to my readers! So in the coming months, every time you see one of the 5 Reasons to Visit posts, make sure to enter the giveaway for the LUXE guide for each of these cities!

Today it’s the London LUXE City guide, so be sure to enter below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Headed to London?

Check out our London Travel Guide in the Land of Marvels Shop for only $5!

The Places that Have Taught Me the Most

August 5, 2014

Traveling has a way of teaching us lessons we never even knew we needed to learn but alas, the lessons that life seems to know that we need to learn often come at the most random times and in the most intriguing places. I’ve learned more lessons traveling around the world than I can count anymore, lessons about life, about love, about myself. Though certain places stick out in my mind for teaching me some of the most important lessons of my adult life and without them, who knows where I’d be today.

India is a country I credit to teaching me an incredible amount of lessons, but perhaps the most important lesson I learned in this beautiful country was how fortunate I am in where I was born and the world I came into. Often we forget how the majority of the world lives, in run down buildings without access to electricity or drinking water. It’s easy to forget there are children begging in the streets in much of the world and women without the rights I was born into. India made me reevaluate what I need to be happy and the things that I am so grateful for in my everyday life that I often forget still aren’t accessible to much of the world.

Genetics are powerful and never have I felt their pull more than during our time in Ireland last Winter. Particularly on our road trip through Northern Ireland, there were so many moments when I looked around and realized that my ancestors had roamed these fields and driven these roads, that my family (many of them who are still there) are deeply tied to that land. It’s easy to forget where we came from, but sometimes, we need to experience it first hand to feel how real that heritage really is.

I’ve long said that I credit Seoul as the place that I truly learned to “soul search,” pun intended. I spent a lot of time in the city when I was living in Honolulu and through many trips to Korea for work, I spent a great deal of time alone there. It was a difficult period of time for Nick and I, obviously with the distance (he was living in Portland still) and anyone who’s been in a long distance relationship for any amount of time knows that at a certain point, the distance becomes make it or break it. It gets wearing, incredibly wearing. It was during one of my nights alone in Seoul, looking out my hotel room window at the sprawling city lights that I realized I didn’t want this anymore, that love was more important than a job or traveling the world alone. I realized that what I had been chasing wasn’t all that important and I figured out a way to move home to Portland a mere few months later.

There is a misconception in the States that the things that are beautiful in this world have to be constrained to certain visions, certain mindsets. I often get tired of the same cookie cutter clothing, the cookie cutter suburban mansions, the cookie cutter monochrome life that is so often sought after in this country. At a time in my life when I was craving color, craving the exotic, craving something different than what I tend to see around me daily, Morocco was a breath of fresh air. The mosques rang out in a foreign tongue, the silks hung in the souk in exotic colors and patterns and every door, no matter how old or how big, was decorated so intricately that it made you stop in awe. Morocco is a testament to the senses, a place that offers a beauty that isn’t cookie cutter at all.

A couple years ago, Nick and I took his parents and grandma on a trip through France and Italy. It was our first time traveling abroad with family and to be honest, it was stressful. It’s hard traveling with other people, everyone has their own paces, their own interests. It’s hard not being able to really travel the way you like, it’s hard being surrounded by people the entirety of a trip, it’s hard when you’re not sure how to handle certain situations that arise. About half way through our trip, Nick and I escaped on our own to Verona for the day from Milan where we were staying. It ended up being one of those days that everything that could go wrong did. I began the day by running into a giant column and bruised and scraped up my leg, it rained and poured the entire day and was freezing cold, Nick dropped his camera and scratched it all up and I had a taxi door slammed on my arm on the way back to the train station at the end of the day. But you know what, to this day we talk about Verona, we talk about how everything went wrong but over the course of that day, we realized that when you’re traveling, you often times just have to let things go. You have to let the stress go, you have to let the situations that are out of your control go. You just have to let go and hope for the best and those are the days that often you end up talking about them in the years to come.

How to See Bangkok in a Day

July 31, 2014

I ended up really liking Bangkok and Thailand in general, something I wasn’t sure would happen before hand. Due to the nature of our trip, we ended up only having one day to explore Bangkok (as we used it more as a stopover en route to SE Asia from India). But we saw a lot of the city and here’s my suggestion to see the famous Thai city (as much of it as you can at least) in a day, if that’s all you have.

Because we were using Bangkok as more of a stopping off point in between India and SE Asia, we wanted a hotel that was in a city central location but also that was equidistant from both airports in Bangkok (both of which we used). We ended up on the Sathorn District, a clean high rise area with great options for hotels. It was also easy to get around from here with the light rail and taxi/tuk tuks.

*I would suggest staying here: Metropolitan by Como.

When you’re ready to head out and explore, grab a taxi from the hotel and have them take you to the nearest water taxi dock. Buy your tickets and jump on a boat, it’s the perfect way to see a lot of the city while enjoying the cool breeze off of the Chao Phraya River. I would suggest heading up to the area around the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. We jumped off there and explored the area.

Once you get to the area around the Grand Palace there are architectural wonders all around you. Take a few hours and explore. Had we had more time we would have loved to go in all the temples and palaces in this area, but due to time constraints we just wandered along the edges and took in the architecture from the outside.

*Note: If you do go in the temples, make sure you check before hand as some don’t allow you to wear shorts inside.

One of the most amazing things about Thailand is the food and the street food is no exception. After wandering around the architectural wonders of the area, I would suggest grabbing a Thai meal for lunch at one of the many vendors in this area. We found one with tables and indulged in delicious Pad Thai and Thai iced tea.

*If you’re worried about getting sick, take a Peptobismal chewable tablet an hour or so before you eat and it will help settle your stomach.

If you have the time, wait around for the sunset while you’re in the area of the Grand Palace. We found a small river-side park and watched the sun set over the city, sipping on Thai iced teas and taking in the glowing Wat Arun temple across the river light up as the sun sank lower. It was one of my favorite spots in Bangkok and a lovely evening. In the middle of this chaotic city, take a moment and just let it slow down for a bit.

When you’ve watched the sun set and as the temperature cools as night falls, grab a tuk tuk and have them take you to the nearest light rail station. It’s a great way to see the city, especially at night when it comes alive. You’ll also be immediately cooled down as you speed (often very very fast) through the chaotic streets of Bangkok. When you arrive, jump on a train back to the Sathorn district.

*Make sure to agree upon a price before you get in the tuk tuk.

After you get off of your train, venture through the Silom Road night market as you make your way back to your hotel. I always find it intriguing that Asian countries have seemingly perfected the night market, a way to shop for whatever you need in the cool darkness of night. Pick up a few souvenirs and then make your way back to your hotel.

While Thailand does cheap street food greatly, it also does high end Thai food great too. Finish off your day in Bangkok with dinner at Nahm, an upscale Thai restaurant in the Metropolitan hotel. The atmosphere is great, the food delicious and finish off your meal with a Thai favorite: mango with sticky rice.

*If you want an after dinner drink or a view of the Bangkok skyline, head next door to the Banyon Tree Hotel’s rooftop bar. We didn’t get a chance to go but I’m sure it’s a fantastic view of Bangkok!

I know there is so much more to see of Bangkok than what we got the chance to see, but just a day in Bangkok left me wanting for more and I can’t wait to get back and explore more of this lovely city!

Traveling to Thailand?

See all of my posts on the country!

Travel Tips : Balancing a Home Base & Traveling

July 30, 2014

Lately I’ve been coming across a number of travel bloggers that have all but given up having a home base and try to constantly travel, seeing as much as they can without a home to go back to in between. And while that may work for them, as much as I love traveling, I also love having a home to come back to, a place that’s all mine, where I’ve picked out the furniture, that I’ve painted the walls. I love the feeling of knowing that at the end of those long plane rides and missed connections, I have my own bed on the other end, that I have a home where memories are made and that holds pictures of our adventures and Nick’s photography hangs on the walls.

And while Nick and I travel a lot more than the average couple, what may not come across as much here on the blog is that we have a very normal day to day life in Portland in between our trips. We have definitely put down roots here in the Pacific North West; we own an apartment here, we own furniture in said apartment, we own 2 cars and we work normal day to day jobs. We have months where we’re replacing dishwashers and washing machines and getting new tires on our cars and I think from the outside, it often looks like all of our money goes to travel. While a large percentage of our income does indeed go to travel, we also live a very normal life here which does require our salaries and our income as well and we’ve, over the years, come up with ways to be able to balance our budget to include the travel we do as well as to be able to live an interesting and fulfilling life at home too. So over the years, here’s what I’ve come up with for tips to balance both a home base (which is incredibly rewarding) and traveling the world.

1. Discuss finances openly.
This one might just be the most important and without this tip, none of the others below will be able to work. It’s really easy to overspend on travel because once you get in vacation mode, it’s easy to justify spending more on items that you wouldn’t otherwise. Be honest about how much money you can afford to use for traveling and how much you can realistically save in your day to day budget.

A great way to be able to save more money for travel is to go through your monthly bills and try to cut those down as much as possible. Call your cable provider and ask for current deals or make sure you’re on the best cell phone plan for what you use. There are ways to cut a lot of your monthly costs just by making the effort to call and see if you can get better deals from your providers. Another way to save more money is to get a second job or do freelance work on the side, to be honest, that’s how most of our travels are funded, through our side work.

Another note on this tip, make sure and discuss finances for your home as well. There is always something that needs to be done or paid for when owning or renting a home and it’s important to know that while you may want all of your extra income to go toward travel, that’s not really realistic. Make sure to budget for what your home will need as well and any unknown expenses that might come up too.

2. Set aside money for travel and don’t touch the account until you’re booking your trip.
A few years ago when we decided we wanted to travel often, we set up accounts at our banks just for this reason. Set up a separate account for travel finances and only add to it until you have enough for a trip. Having a specific savings account for a trip is a great way to divide out your money and not be able to the touch the money until you need it for your trip. I do this still to this day and whatever goes into this account isn’t touched until I need to pay for trip items or I get cash out when we leave.

3. Use points and credit cards to your advantage.
Credit cards and loyalty points can be a huge help when saving for a trip. Nick and I have finally gotten to a point (granted it took us a few years) to really figure out how to best use points to our advantage. Any more, probably half our large trips are bought on points or credits, as well as many of our smaller USA trips as well. Between air miles and credit card points, we spend about half as much on trips as we did in the first few years. At the end of the day, this means we can travel more because we’re spending less.

Just a few tips on this note to take advantage of include booking hotels and airfare with points from credit cards or miles, using sign up bonuses on new credit cards to supplement your accounts and researching different options using points that can work to your best advantage.

*You can read about some of my favorite travel credit cards here.

4. Be honest about what you need. Sell items that aren’t important and use the money for additional things you’ll like more.
I’ve always been the type of person that sold things I didn’t use, but this is a great way to make a little extra cash and savings. I regularly clean out my closet and sell clothes I don’t wear at local resale shops. I do the same thing with books that we don’t want to keep or furniture that we replace. It also helps that we just don’t have the room to keep things we don’t need (we live in a 500 square foot apartment), but it’s also a great way to make some extra money aside from your daily income to put away for travel. Every little bit helps and over time, being honest with what you really need in your daily life can help you narrow down what’s important and what’s not.

5. Don’t expect everything to come at once, building a balanced home and travel lifestyle takes time.
I see this one time and time again with friends of ours, they get jobs, apartments/homes and suddenly they want everything at once. To get to the point Nick and I are at now, and by no means are we even still experts on this, it’s taken 5+ years. We’ve updated our apartment over the years, purchased furniture piece by piece over the years, learned how to travel more and more economically, saved money for travel and other things but it’s all taken years to do it.

Realize that realistically to be able to have both a lovely home to come home to and travel the world can be an investment over time but when you get there, it’s such a fulfilling feat!

Day Trip to Astoria

July 28, 2014

Last weekend Nick and I headed North to Astoria, a coastal town about two hours from us here in Portland. We like to escape to the Coast every once in a while and it had been years since either of us had to been to Astoria, so we decided to spend the day up North in the cooler weather. Turns out, we both fell in love with cute little Astoria and by far, turns out to be our favorite Oregon coastal town close to us. This most Northern spot in Oregon sits on the opening of the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean and has stunning views of Washington State across the river as well as out to sea.

We’ll definitely be making repeat visits in the future, but for now, here’s a look at our day on the Oregon coast.

Photo by Nick

Travel Tips : Getting Lounge Access in Airports

July 23, 2014

Traveling can be brutal: long layovers, uncomfortable seating, having to lug your bags around. So whenever possible, your travels can be made a lot easier by gaining access to the many lounges throughout airports around the world. Often, I find many people don’t know how they can gain access to these lounges and they can be a life saver in more ways than one while you’re waiting for hours at an airport. These lounges offer everything from showers to free food and drinks to comfortable areas to wait out your layovers. And actually, there are many ways to gain access to these lounges and make your airport experience that much better.

Become a frequent flier with a specific airline.

Becoming part of airlines’ loyalty programs can have lots of perks, but one of the best is the access to lounges. Not all airlines handle this the same and many of them you have to be top tier fliers to achieve free access, though some airlines will allow you to pay a minimal fee to have access to their lounges when you’re an MVP with the airline.

Daily passes.

It’s becoming more and more common for lounges (especially in major airports) to offer day passes for purchase. We’ve done this in the past including once at the Virgin America lounge in LAX. The day passes are usually around the $30 range and you get to use the facilities all day. This is a great option if you have a long layover. Keep in mind too even though you’re paying for it, usually it’s free wifi, free food and soft drinks and comfortable areas to stretch out and sleep or do work. Considering you’d probably spend that much on food or wifi charges anyways in the normal terminal, it’s usually a pretty fair deal.

Priority Pass.

This is a program you pay yearly for but that let’s you have access to any lounge worldwide. My dad pays for the premium membership for work but for Christmas last year, he signed up Nick and I for the Friends and Family membership plan at a discount. With this plan, it’s around $100 per year and every time we use it when traveling, we pay $24 per person for access to any lounge at any airport worldwide. It’s been a great thing for us and we’ve used it multiple times already since receiving it in December of last year. My favorite use so far was at the United lounge at Newark in February en route to India. We had a 6 hour layover in Newark and with bag weather in NYC, we decided to stay at the airport instead of venturing into the city. So we holed up in the United Lounge, were able to take showers, stretch out and be really comfortable for 6 hours. They also have a great app that you can see all the lounges at your access and what each one offers. It’s a great program to check out if you travel a lot.

Get upgraded or book a business class ticket.

Whenever you book a business or first class ticket or get upgraded, you’ll get access into the airline’s lounges. The only time this has happened to us internationally was from London to Seattle last November and though we got upgraded to Business Class and would have had access to the BA Lounge, our flight time was soon and we didn’t really have time to use it. But keep in mind, when you get that magical upgrade or you’ve already booked a business class or first class ticket, you’ll get lounge access on your boarding pass.

Why You Should Book That Ticket

July 20, 2014

One of the things I hope to accomplish here on True Colours is to inspire people to travel, to see the world in front of us, to open ourselves up to all the amazing things that exist out there beyond our doors. And one of the things that I hear a lot from people in my every day life as well as readers are all the reasons why they can’t travel. I hear all the things holding them back, all the things in our lives that we have the power to change but most never will. The part of that I won’t accept is that there is always a way if you make it a priority and rearrange things to make it work. So while I’ve done many posts before on how to make it happen, from how to fly to Europe cheaply to getting around Europe on a budget and from ways to save money while traveling to credit cards that can help you save money on trips, I’ve not touched much on the reasons why you should book that ticket and take the trip you’ve always wanted to.

There are always going to be obstacles in our lives but finding a way to work around them and figuring out what your priorities are will help you get to the point of booking that ticket to wherever it is you want to go and here’s why you should!

The biggest push to book that ticket and see those places you’ve always dreamed of is the fact that we don’t know what will happen in the future. We could get sick, lose abilities to travel or have major life events come up that make traveling harder. Today is what we have in front of us and if you want to see the world, don’t wait around to make it happen, make plans to do it as soon as you can.

One of the things I hear a lot is, “oh that will be there for years and I can see it later” and while for many places that might be true, there is a lot of the world that might not always bee there to see later. Places that are old already and may be crumbling, world monuments that might fall apart over the years of use or even countries that may be falling apart politically. There are places in the world that I long to see but due to political unrest may not be the same when we see them down the road. Don’t bank on those dream destinations always being there because there are lots of reasons why they may not be there down the road.

Traveling the world opens you up to lessons that you can’t learn any other way. Lessons in tolerance, in language, in experience can be used everywhere in your day to day life as well and will help you become a better person and a better citizen. Traveling only enriches your life and will offer you lessons and experience to fulfill you in ways you never thought possible!

What To Carry In Your Camera Bag for Travel Photography

July 18, 2014

My husband Nick is a great self-taught photographer and he’s been able to capture some really incredible travel photography over the years of us traveling around the world. He often gets asked what’s in his travel bag, how much gear does he take and how does he pack it for travel. Traveling with photo gear adds a bit of complication to your trip, so having a plan for your gear will make a big difference and today he’s sharing his thoughts and strategy below for what to carry in your camera bag for travel photography!

All of Nick’s Tips for What To Carry In Your Camera Bag for Travel Photography

First off, I will be the first person to tell you I pack a little too much gear. I like to prepare myself for anything and there have been many times I’ve gone to a location planning to use one lens (see his favorite lenses here!) and ended up using an entirely different one. How do I handle all this gear? I use what I like to call the 2-Bag system. One bag is the kitchen sink full of gear and accessories and another much smaller bag with only the essentials for a day of shooting.

Bag 1:
My main bag is full of all the gear for the trip, usually a backpack but sometimes I use a medium sized messenger bag. Everything goes in this bag: camera, laptop, lenses, accessories, etc… The main bag stays in the hotel or rental car and only comes out with me when I’m doing photo specific outings where the sole purpose is to take photos. When I’m not leaving the main bag at the hotel I lock it up to prevent people from walking away with it.

Bag 2:
I have a small shoulder bag that I can fit a couple of lenses in and a few accessories. This is the bag I take out during a day of exploring. It only fits a few items that I will need during the day and no extras. Being that it’s light, it’s easy on my back, I can move through crowds easily and doesn’t look inconspicuous for pick pockets. This is great when we are shooting on the streets, exploring attractions like museums or out for an evening stroll.

Below are all the items I use and travel with for great travel photography!

1. Thinktank Airport Essentials. I love this bag because it fits a ton of gear but still can fit under the seat on most airplanes.

2. Lowpro shoulder bag. This bag is great for a day’s worth of gear and is easy to carry around.

3. Canon 5D Mark III. This is my workhorse camera that I use on most shoots.

4. Sigma 35mm Lens. This is my favorite lens right now. It’s really versatile on the street and crazy sharp.

5. Canon 70-200 f/4. I love the 70-200, it’s great for portraits and taking close up shots on the street. I prefer the f/4 for travel because it’s quite a bit smaller and cheaper than its f/2.8 cousin but still really sharp. I’m testing out the rubber lens hood in the picture. Because it’s rubber it can collapse down to a small size and takes up a lot less room in my bag then the normal plastic lens hood.

6. Canon 17-40 F/4. I have a love/hate relationship with this lens. Some of my favorite images have come out of this wide angle lens but the corners are really soft which drives me crazy!

7. 50mm F/1.8. This is a great lens to keep around because it’s so small and cheap. Sometimes when I just want to be really light and mobile, I’ll just take my camera with this lens.

8. Lumix Gx8. This is one of my favorites cameras that Casey and I share but that she usually carries around when traveling. It’s mirrorless, so it’s quite a bit smaller than my Canon. Mostly on trips Casey is using this camera but at home I take it out for errands and or quick outings. My favorite thing about this camera is the wifi: when we are traveling I can connect my phone and post images taken on this camera on Instagram. While they don’t make the GX8 anymore, here is something similar that’s new!

9. Godox Wireless Master/Slaver Flash & Receiver with Remote Trigger. I don’t do a ton of flash photography on our trips but there are the few occasions that it’s nice to have. I love these because they are really rugged for travel.

10. Cord Tacos. These are my new favorite obsession and I love being organized with these leather cord holders to keep my cords from getting tangled and knotted and easy to access.

11. Accessory Pouches. I use these pouches to keep all sorts of things organized: batteries, chargers, cables, etc… I have one pouch dedicated to my flash accessories and one pouch with all the rest of my items.

12. Lens Cloth. It’s always a good idea to have a microfiber cloth for your lenses. I bought a bulk pack from Amazon and throw them in the pockets of all of my bags.

13. Small Reflector Dish. I use this a lot for food photos but it’s also great for portraits. It unfolds into a 12” dish and is great to add a little bit of light to a plate of food or to a person’s face.

14. Filters. I use two different filters with my photography: I will sometimes use a circular polarizer to cut through the glare and saturate the colors in my landscape images and I also use a 10+ neutral density filter. This is great for waterfalls, streams, etc… when you want to keep the shutter open for longer amounts of time.

15. Garmin GPS. I like to try and geotag my images with the GPS location and this works great for that. It’s just a fun way to keep track of all the places I’ve shot images.

16. Gorilla pod. I love my Joby Gorilla Pod. It can roll up and fit in my gray shoulder bag when we are walking around. It’s nice to have in case something comes up that I wasn’t expecting. I have attached it too all sorts of things to take images like fences, branches, walls, fire hydrants, poles, etc.

17. Induro Tripod. When I really want to take serious images, nothing beats a good tripod. For travel I will take the head off, which make it easier to fit in my carry on bag.

18. Gaffers tape. You never know when it will come in handy. I roll about 2 feet of gaffers tape around a small golf pencil so I always have a little bit handy.

19. Ziplock bags. I keep a couple of ziplock bags with me in case it rains, I can throw my camera into the bag and protect it a little better. When I shoot in the rain, I will sometimes cut a hole in the bag and poke the lens out to be able to keep shooting.

20. Business cards. It’s always a good ideas to have a few handy to give out.

21. Memory Card Wallet. I love this memory card wallet by Think Tank I got a few years ago to hold all of my memory cards while on the go.

22. iPad. I love my iPad, it’s great for flights and getting work done on the go. I use services like Evernote and Dropbox to keep my information available on my iPad no matter where I am.

See other posts on Travel Photography here!

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