Finding Home

May 12, 2014

We’re starting the week here off a little bit personal today. I don’t talk about Portland nearly enough on the blog here and my home city is one that’s pretty special and I think I should definitely highlight it more. It’s a place that has finally become a true home for me over the years and a place I love dearly.

I’ve talked before about my search for a home for many years, the way that after leaving Saudi Arabia as a young girl, no where ever truly felt right until Portland. For many years I felt like I was floating, like no where really held roots for me. When we left Saudi, we knew full well we’d probably never be back and with their strict visa requirements, it would be difficult to ever return, even as a tourist and even then, we probably wouldn’t be able to get back on the compound I grew up on. I left Saudi as a 12 year old girl knowing that the home I spent my entire childhood in, that stucco house with marroon carpet and a nail polish stain on the wall in the downstairs bathroom, would never again be part of my life. I left knowing that the beach on the Persian Gulf that we spent so much time on, the small man-made reef that we snorkeled through, the restaurants, the people, the feeling of my childhood home, I knew I’d never see it again. And through the years, that weighed down upon me. I envied the people I met whose parents still lived in their childhood home. I felt adrift for a long time.

So when I moved to Portland for college, there was something about the city that immediately held me. I immediately felt like I had found my real home, a place that I fit, a place that I felt whole again. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since leaving Saudi 6 years earlier. This city, that I still call home, has been a constant in my ever evolving life and it’s a place that I have come back to again and again, even when life took me elsewhere.

What I’ve come to find is that “home,” at least for me, is a fluid concept. It doesn’t have to be a childhood home you still go back to visit, a house full of memories. It doesn’t have to be one place that you’ve always known. Home is about how you feel, what memories it evokes, and a place that makes you feel safe, that makes you feel understood, that makes you feel complete.

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time away from Portland. I lived in Honolulu for a couple years after college, I spent a lot of time working in Korea, I’ve traveled a lot, near and far, but in the end I still get that feeling when returning to Portland. I still feel like this is truly and finally home. I don’t know that I’ll always be here, but I do know that I’ll always come back to this city in the end, because it’s the one place in the world that has become such a constant for me, it’s the one place that holds a very special part of my heart.

Travel Tips : How to Choose a Trip Location

May 9, 2014

I get asked a lot how Nick and I choose the destinations we travel to. With a never ending list of possibilities around the world and even in our own home country of the US, let me tell you, it’s often a daunting task. We each have so many places on our “lists” that we want to see and experience and sometimes they line up and sometimes they don’t. We spend quite a bit of time, over a span of a few months brainstorming where we should head next and the process really does entail a lot of research and gathering information. So today, here is the process we go through of choosing a destination and all that it entails.

We start brainstorming for trips about a year in advance. For example, right now we’re in the process of discussing options for our Spring trip for next year (2015) and while that may seem like a long time in advance, that’s one reason we can travel so much because we plan ahead and can work it into our schedules. We won’t book anything for a while, but it’s important to give yourselves a few months of brainstorming ideas for locations. For us, we talk and see where the other person would like to go and try to meet in the middle or match up locations that might be close to each other.

Often times we start off with totally different locations than we end up going with too, so keep your options open.

After you figure out some of your ideas while brainstorming, choose a specific part of the world that interests you. For us, we were thinking the Mediterranean or Middle East for our Spring trip next year so we looked into a few different options for countries in that region during our brainstorming. Once you narrow down a specific area of the world, it makes everything easier because you have less to choose from. Narrow it down even further than continents, try and figure out particular areas such as SE Asia, Southern or Northern Europe, etc.

This is a big step in narrowing down locations even further. Some places just aren’t great to travel to at certain times of the year. For example, Nick and I don’t like to travel in the Summer as it’s too hot for us and there are too many tourists, which narrows down a lot of spots that might be best that time of year. For our Spring trip next year, we started with the idea of Greece, specifically Santorini, however upon further research and contacting people we know there, we realized that when we’d want to travel (February or March) that really is too early to really experience the Greek islands, not enough would be open and we’d miss out on some of the great weather and beautiful sunsets which are so specific to that part of the world. Learning that, we moved our area of focus to Spain, where the temperatures will be warmer (but not too hot) and things will be more available and easier to get to.

There are also places that I personally wouldn’t want to see in the Summer time in the heat with hords of tourists. It’s important to confirm what your location will be like in the time of year you’ll be traveling as that can really narrow down your options even further.

Once you finalize a location, you’ll want to do some good research on things to see and do and how you’ll get to your location. Keep in mind that flights often only operate during certain times of year or specific tourist attractions might be different in off seasons. Confirm you’ll really be able to experience your destination before you make the final bookings.

Once you’ve finished up all your research and confirmed that everything will work out for your trip, make the final bookings. I usually start with flights, as that’s the most important to lock in, especially if you find a good price. Then I follow with hotels and then transport options if we need to book in advance. No matter how far in advance, if I see a good deal on hotels or flights, I jump on it, because you can work the rest of your trip around those good deals usually. I also usually have an idea of places to stay and flights we’ll want that I find while doing the research in the above steps, so usually this part is pretty easy and quick, since you already have the information you need.

New Mexico : Santa Fe

May 7, 2014

After exploring the scenic Tent Rocks on our first day in New Mexico, we drove North to Santa Fe which had a storm blowing through and was freezing cold and snowing for much our time there. Santa Fe is much higher elevation when coming from Albuquerque and often has much stormier and colder weather than a lot of the rest of the State.

We spent Saturday night in Santa Fe and ventured around the Historic area of the town (built all in the pueblo style) as much as we could before we were frozen and retreated to the lovely Hotel St. Francis in the town center.

We went to sleep as snow fell outside the window and awoke to a blizzard (though thankfully none of it was sticking) and 30 degree temperatures. We wandered around the old town for a bit Sunday morning, grabbed breakfast at the Plaza Cafe on the Historic Town Plaza and then circled back to our hotel through the streets of shops full of pottery and chiles hanging out to dry before heading back to Albuquerque to catch our flight home.

I really enjoyed New Mexico overall and in some respects, it was exactly as I imagined. In others, it totally blew away my expectations. While this was a somewhat difference trip for us, with much more exploring the countryside and the open expanses of land, I loved seeing the red clay everywhere, the pueblo style architecture and the pops of turquoise every so often in the landscape and buildings. The Native American culture is rich in New Mexico and around every turn we were reminded of the history of this nation as well of that of Mexico, which all seem to blend in this ever diverse and beautiful State.

Photo by Nick

New Mexico : Albuquerque & Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks

May 4, 2014

A week ago, Nick and I made a weekend trip down to New Mexico for a quick holiday. I’ve been wanting to make it to the American South West for a while and as someone who loves desert landscapes, New Mexico was high on my list. Since we only had really 1 full day there (flying in to Albuquerque Friday evening and leaving mid-day on Sunday), we found a few spots we really wanted to see to get a taste of the State.

We stayed Friday evening in Albuquerque, had breakfast there Saturday morning and then headed out into the desert to explore the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Park which is about 45 minutes North of Albuquerque and only about a half hour South of Santa Fe. The Tent Rocks had intrigued us when we did research on the area, though we didn’t do enough research to fully realize the immense offerings of the park. We ended up doing a 3 mile hike (spontaneously) into the canyon and back, which ended up being really beautiful. We walked through tiny slit canyons into open spaces full of the incredible tent-shaped rocks and finally 600 feet up the rocks (literally climbing at some spots) to the beautiful view of the entire area from the top.

To be honest, it was a really hard hike (not just walking, but climbing and maneuvering throughout the path). Anyone that knows me personally knows I’m not an outdoorsy person and I’m not one to usually trek through the wilderness. I’m still not sure that had I known the trek ahead, we would have gone forward with it but I’m so glad we did. The landscape in this part of the country is just stunning and so unique and I’m so glad to have experienced it.

Photo by Nick

Easy Ways to Save Money While Traveling

April 30, 2014

There are so many lesser known ways to save money while traveling that aren’t often thought of – everything from which airport you fly into, to where and how you find lodging, where you spend your money on food and how you go about using transit spots, they can all end up saving you quite a bit of your hard earned money on a trip. Over the years, we’ve slowly figured out ways to cut off costs here and there as we travel and today, here are some of those tips that we’ve slowly learned to hopefully help you chip off a little bit of what traveling costs.

Fly into Smaller Airports + Take Advantage of Lower Fares

Which airport you choose to fly into in any location can really make a difference on your fares. There are tricks to picking your airport at your destination, so do your research. Often times, fares can be half as much (or less in some cases) if you just pick the airport that works better for your situation. The issue is that not many people even think about this and they just search for their city destination, not knowing that if you do the research and see what the options are, you could save a ton of money.

For an example of this, most major cities have multiple airports, usually a large international hub but also usually a smaller, more easily accessible airport as well. Paris has Orly, which we love and try to use as much as possible. It’s closer to the city, connects to the Metro and offers low cost carrier hubs there like EasyJet (which is one of our favorites in Europe.) London has Gatwick, Milan has Linate and the list goes on. This is also true in the United States, as you can often fly into Newark for a lot less than JFK, depending on where you are coming from. LA is the same, and often times fares to Burbank and Ontario are cheaper than LAX.

Another thing to check into is how to get into the city from each of the airport options you might use as sometimes it’s way cheaper from certain locations over others. For example, Newark has a train connection right into downtown NYC that’s way cheaper transport than grabbing a taxi. In Paris, Orly is a way quicker metro trip to get to than Charles de Gaulle from the center of Paris. Many times, these options can also save you money depending on where you’re headed.

Stay Outside of Expensive Areas

Often times, certain destinations you want to travel to can be quite expensive to stay and find accommodation in your price range or availability on your travel dates. Sometimes (depending on the situation of course) it’s cheaper and easier to find places to stay outside of where you’re headed and can even often turn into being able to explore more places. A good example of this is is a place like Santa Barbara where hotels are expensive, especially around holidays, and often book completely up. You could stay in LA (where there is a wealth of hotel options in every price range) and use points to rent a car and drive up the coast for the day to Santa Barbara. This scenario would allow you to explore more of LA as well as Santa Barbara and same goes for places in most expensive areas around the world.

Explore Away from Tourist Areas

In certain cities, for example like Paris or Honolulu, there are definitely “tourist spots” and restaurants that surround them are always way more expensive than going a few streets away from the tourist attractions. For example, in Paris, the cafe right next to Notre Dame is going to be way more expensive (and honestly, probably not as good) as the one down the street or across the Seine. In Honolulu, everything on the main boulevard through Waikiki is going to be double the price of what you can find if you head to more local spots.

A good option is asking people in those cities what their favorite local spots are or just wandering down side roads away from the masses of tourists and you’ll save a ton of money on food costs while traveling.

Stay at Train Stations or Airports while in Transit

Another thing that is super easy to do in Europe and Asia is staying some of your nights in transit at a train station or airport hotel. Sometimes you’re just passing through a city and want to stop off for a night. It’s often cheaper to stay at transit spots like train stations or airport hotels if it works with your schedule.

I wouldn’t recommend doing this for multiple nights as you don’t really get to see the great spots of a city by doing this, but if you’re going to be in transit anyway, sometimes this is a good option to save money and time instead of having to go into the city center while traveling.

What to Wear for Travel in SE Asia

April 28, 2014

More What to Wear posts for more destinations here!

We’ve been to SE Asia a few times throughout a few different countries and I’ve found on our trips that what you need to pack is quite similar between countries. Here I share some of my travel style inspiration for you to pack for your own trip to SE Asia, specifically for Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

What I Wore in Cambodia:

Outfit Details:

Madewell White Tee Shirt | Cargo Vest | Shorts | White Converse Low Tops |

Ralph Lauren Orange Cross Body Purse (similar) | Scarf (similar) | Lumix Camera

Outfit Details:

Madewell White Tee Shirt | Green Cargo Vest (similar) | Gap Cargo pants (similar) | White Converse Low Tops |

Ralph Lauren Orange Cross Body Purse (similar) | Linen Scarf (similar)| Lumix Camera

Tips for Dressing for Cambodia:

-Wear lots of linen to stay cool

-Add a vest and scarf knowing that in the evening it would get cooler

-Wear fabrics that breath, since it’s so hot and humid in Cambodia

-Wear dark cargo pants when exploring the temples – not only did they help to keep my legs covered while it was cool, they were also a dark color and didn’t show the dirt as much as lighter colors would

-Comfortable shoes are a must as we spent a lot of time wandering around and climbing in and out of temples

-A cross-body bag is also a must, as it was small enough to not be heavy and easy to throw over my shoulder

What I Wore in Thailand:

travel style for Thailand

Outfit Details:

Old Navy Maxi dress (sold out) | Madewell Tee Shirt | Tan Flats (similar)

Tips for Dressing for Thailand:

-The temples don’t let you in showing bare legs or shoulders so wear maxi dresses

-Throw on a scarf when you’ll be out until after dark as it cools down at night

-Wear loafers or flats so that your feet don’t get too dirty and are comfortable to walk around in.

What I Wore in Myanmar:

Outfit Details:

Madewell Tee Shirt | White Tennis Shoes (similar)| Loose Pants (similar) | Linen Scarf (similar)

Headed to SE Asia?

See our posts on Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

A Weekend in Seattle

April 23, 2014

A couple weekends ago, Nick and I drove up to Seattle (which is only a 2.5 hour drive for us) and spent the weekend in the city. I was taking my certification exam up there all day on Saturday so we drove up Friday after work and spent a lovely Spring evening wandering around downtown Seattle. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants and took in the gorgeous warm evening. Saturday, I was at the Art Institute of Seattle all day for my Practicum exam (basically 8 straight hours of drafting), followed by dinner at Palomino downtown, one of our favorite Seattle spots, and a quick stop through the brand new Zara before heading back to our hotel for an early night in after a very long day. Sunday we had brunch with my brother who lives in the area at the delicious Toulousse Petit in Queen Anne (thanks for the recommendation Erica!), which was delicious and then got on the road to head home.

It was a quick weekend but a lovely one at that. I always enjoy visiting Seattle and we got lucky with beautiful Spring weather and a nice little escape. We stayed at the recently renovated Kimpton hotel Vintage Park, which was fantastic and a hotel review will be on the horizon for that, but for now, here are a few photos from the weekend and some that Nick took while I was at my test all day and he wandered around the city!

The gorgeous view from our hotel room including a view of the Seattle Public Library designed by Koolhaus.

The Experience Music Project by one of my favorite architects : Frank Gehry.

All photos by Nick

Tips for Booking Emergency Flights

April 22, 2014

Last week, we got word that a family member had passed away in Medford, Oregon (about a 5 hour drive South of us). When we found out when the funeral was going to be, Nick and I scrambled to find a way to be there. At first (on a Monday evening), it didn’t look like we were going to be able to make it due to schedules and flights (because we’d only be able to be there for the day due to committments and it’s too far to drive for that). But on a second look the following day, we figured out a way to make it work. Sometimes there are things that you just have to make it for and you have to book flights/transit at the last minute to be there which can prove very difficult. Here are a few tips to make the booking and whole trip for an emergency a little easier.

Ask about a Bereavement rate on airlines.

This is something that isn’t well known, but most airlines will offer a bereavement rate for airfare. It might not necessarily be cheaper than a normal fare but it’s more flexible, so if you need to change it last minute or book super last minute, it can be really helpful. It’s worth making the phone call to the airlines to ask about this option before you book, because you never know if it might end up being your best option.

Miles are your best friend.

For us, we immediately went for our miles to fly down to Medford. We fly Alaska down there and always keep a stash of Alaska miles in our accounts which worked out really well for this last minute trip. We ended up still having to pay some for the trip, but it was way cheaper than having to pay for the entire last minute fare which was really high.

For a last minute situation like an emergency, airline mileage can become a really valuable thing. If you have MVP or elite status, this can also help you as well with getting a seat, even on planes that are mostly full.

Check back is availability is scarce.

We originally looked at our fares on a Monday evening and the flight we needed to be on coming home (as we had another previous commitment that night back here in Portland) wasn’t even showing up with any available seats. However, when I checked back the following morning, 4 seats had opened up. Whether this is due to cancelations or seats maybe being on hold and then opened up, sometimes checking back the following day can make a big difference on availability.

Be flexible.

Traveling in case of a family emergency can be stressful enough, so being flexible with flights and planning for the unexpected can be helpful. Know that things might go wrong, flights may be delayed, connections missed, so just be ready to be flexible. Especially booking last minute, you might not get the perfect times or connections, so be ready to just go with it.

Our flight home on Friday ended up being delayed due to a mechanical issue. Luckily we could call and book ourselves on the next flight (to confirm we’d get home that night) as well as rescheduling our commitments that we had that night back in Portland. Use the technology available to you such as smartphones to rebook things that might come up spur of the moment and just know ahead of time that things might not go exactly as planned.

Be honest about why you’re traveling.

Because traveling in case of an emergency can be hard emotionally, don’t worry about hiding that. In fact, you may just find that people around you will help pick up the slack if you need. Be honest with airlines or airport security about why you’re flying if it’s going to make things easier. They might be more prone to help you or let you board early for example, if you’re honest about the reason for your trip.

Tips for Traveling to Siem Reap

April 13, 2014

Siem Reap was a mixed bag for us. On one hand we loved seeing the temples and exploring the area.we had amazing food and the
longer we were there, the more we liked it. But there are definitely things I wish I would have known before going, so here are my tips for visiting the ancient Cambodian city.

I had no idea that the area around Siem Reap is covered in a deep red dirt before we left. I was lucky that I packed dark colors to wear, at least with pants and shorts, but a good tip to be aware of when traveling to Siem Reap and exploring the temples of Angkor Wat and surrounding areas, is that you’ll get very dirty.

My white converse shoes I wore all over were just covered in red dirt and filthy by the end of our trip. They washed out fine when I got home, but it’s something to be aware of so don’t wear anything expensive or light in color. Another tip would be to make sure and bring some sort of shoe bag to pack your shoes home so they don’t get the rest of your clothes in your suitcase dirty too. I always pack my shoes in shoe bags and it ended up really working out well for this trip particularly.

Dark pants were the best option for me (I wore cargos) as they didn’t show too much of the dirt and kept my legs from the bugs and the sun, as well as protecting them from cuts and scrapes as we made our way through the temples.

One of the nice things about how they have the ticketing set up for the temples is that you can buy your Angkor pass the evening before and take in the sunset as part of the package price. We bought 1 day passes ($20 per person) and had our tuk tuk driver take us to buy the pass, then on to Angkor Wat to take in the sunset (after 5pm the night before your pass technically starts but they let us buy ours at 4:30 and we were in the temples before 5). You’re basically getting a 1.5 day pass for the same price which is nice.

Also, keep your pass handy as with every new temple, they’ll ask to see it.

Nick had really wanted to do the sunrise at Angkor Wat as he’d seen some incredible photographs from there, with the temple reflected over the pond that lays in front of it. I was expecting it to be a serene moment, watching the sun come up over this historic temple. Unfortunately it was a mass crowd, pushing and shoving. I was at the very front sitting on the ground as we got there very early, with the water in front of me and there were moments I got really claustrophobic as I looked behind me and saw bodies upon bodies without a real way to get out and no way to go forward.

If we had it to do over again, I would skip the sunrise here and head to one of the other temples. I’ve heard both Bayon and Ta Prohm are beautiful at this time of day and I wish we would have done that instead. Though in the end, it was an experience and I came away with something we can do next time if we go back.

One thing I wasn’t aware of before our trip to Cambodia was the full effect of what the climate would be. To be honest, I was expecting it to be tropical like the rest of SE Asia, but I wasn’t ready for the intense heat and humidity we encountered and it really got the better of me during our time there. If you’re not used to that sort of climate, you really need to be prepared. Drink lots of water, wear loose clothing, wear sunscreen and make sure to take care of yourself. There were times we just wanted to get in the back of a tuk tuk and have them drive us around just to get a breeze and cool off. The humidity especially really got to me and made me physically sick a few times, so be sure to take your time and sit down when you need to and drink lots of water.

We hired a guide that had been recommended through someone we know for our sunrise visit to Angkor Wat and it ended up being a total waste and we let him go early. First off, he left us while the sun was rising as he went to get “coffee” which upset me as we were paying him for his time and he was gone for about an hour. Then it was a hassle trying to find him, we wanted to head on to Ta Prohm and he insisted on walking us around Angkor Wat a bit more. He didn’t tell us anything we couldn’t learn from a guidebook and to be honest, we were pretty annoyed when we finally let him go.

We had a much better time exploring on our own. I would suggest doing research before you go for which spots you particularly want to hit and then map out an agenda. Also remember you won’t be able to explore much throughout the middle part of the day as it’s too hot, so schedule your exploration for the mornings and evenings.

Cambodia uses the American Dollar as their currency and they are pretty picky when it comes to how the bill actually looks and feels. I had heard of this before we left, so I went to my bank before the trip and had them sort through a bunch of dollar bills to get the crispest ones. There were many times I saw it happen on this trip that the Cambodians would ask for another bill if it wasn’t crisp. They won’t accept any dollar bills that have tears or writing or even folded edges, so be aware of that before you go. This happened at both the ticket booth for the Angkor passes to the couple in front of us and at a table next to us at dinner on Pub Street. Make sure you take only crisp dollar bills with you and if you get it before you go, your bank will go through and make sure they only give you crisp ones.

Traveling to Cambodia?

See all of my posts on the country!

A Weekend in Eastern Washington

April 10, 2014

About a year ago on an Alaska flight to somewhere, I think it was Hawaii but I don’t really remember, Nick and I came across an article in the in-flight magazine about a winery in Eastern Washington built to mimic SouthWestern design. For some reason, it really struck me and I took a quick picture on my phone thinking I’d look into it more when we got home. Well after our trip and returning home and getting back into everything, I totally forgot about it. When I finally did remember a few weeks later, I couldn’t for the life of me find that photo and didn’t remember what the name of it was or in what town it was located. Long story short, I let it go.

Well in January of this year, I randomly came across the photo I had taken of the article, placed in some random event folder in iPhoto and decided to check into it further. After emailing the hotel and winery about my blog and wondering if they’d like to be featured on here, I had a weekend stay booked with them and a lovely local weekend trip on our calendar for March, which we wanted to keep local and fairly light after being in Asia for half of February.

We headed up to Prosser, Washington to Desert Wind Winery a few weeks ago to complete our stay, winding through the Columbia River Gorge, and finally crossing the border into Washington as we drove up Highway 97 through rolling hills, forests and farmland. The scenery was gorgeous and totally different than I was expecting for that part of the state. We arrived in Prosser in the late afternoon and began our stay at Desert Wind, which so kindly offered us complimentary wine tasting, a gorgeous room with a balcony overlooking the Yakima River, a free bottle of wine (I chose their Riesling) and an incredible Chef tasting dinner at their restaurant with a menu seemingly built for me including lamp chops, beef tenderloin and tiramisu that we got to build ourselves. We then finished our Saturday evening by watching the sun set from our balcony and the colors that splashed across the open landscape stunning to say the least.

In short, the hotel was delightful (more to come on that tomorrow) but the landscape on our drive there and around the Prosser area was gorgeous to say the least. With a mix of high desert and rolling hills, we were in awe the whole time. And while this was a little bit “country” for us compared to our normal locations, it was such a nice welcome quiet weekend without the connection and chaos of the city after a very busy work week. We will no doubt be headed back to this area and to Desert Wind in the future for a relaxing break!