#BloggingDesk : Dealing with Blogging Bullsh*t

February 7, 2017

First off, excuse the language but I felt it appropriate for the topic we’re discussing today in my #BloggingDesk series. In this series, I like to talk openly and honestly about the forum of blogging, the good and the bad, both necessary for the evolution of this type of writing and sharing on the internet. And as readers of Land of Marvels or as bloggers yourself, I’m sure by now you’re aware of how sometimes our little spaces on the internet can bring about negativity, most of the time, from no direct result of our own.

I’ve dealt with my fair share of negativity and hurtful comments over my years of blogging and as Land of Marvels has grown, the negativity that comes with that is sometimes a very negative aspect of blogging. I’ll be honest, there have been points in my blogging life when I’ve debated whether it’s worth it, whether dealing with the negativity here and there is really a worthwhile trade off for the amazing things blogging has brought to my life. From GOMI forums that debated (very rudely I might add) whether I was actually lying about my birth and childhood in Saudi Arabia (I’m not – and I have a passport and birth certificate to prove it), about how I think I know everything about travel (I don’t – but I try to share what I do know to help others travel) to comments left on blog posts that attack me for things I write or say or do (most of which I take down as I don’t want the negativity here in what I want to be a positive space). And while the negativity or rather, blogging bullish*t, doesn’t happen regularly, but instead pops up randomly here and there, I have learned one rather large lesson from it all : it simply doesn’t matter.

It’s taken me a few years and some tears shed along the way to realize this, but in the end, I simply don’t care what people want to say about me. If they want to lie or gossip behind screen names and anonymity, that’s their choice. I have made a choice as a blogger and as a writer and as a woman that their passive aggression shouldn’t have an affect on me and my life and the community I’ve built here at LOM. And perhaps from that lesson, I’ve been able to let more brush off my back and get back to what I really love, which is sharing travel with all of you lovely readers from around the world and having meaningful and amazing conversations with you each and every day.

So in the end, as bloggers or writers or women or whatever we are, we must all remember that no matter what negativity comes our way, it really doesn’t matter. As long as we’re true to ourselves, push forward with perseverance and drive, and dream up whatever we might desire, we’re better off leaving the bulls*t as just that. We’re better than to stoop to the level of these people hiding behind their computers spouting off bullsh*t about people they don’t know. In the end, we rise above.

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My Best Travel Advice for 2017

February 6, 2017

As everyone starts embarking on their travels throughout 2017, sometimes there are tips and tricks for travel that can truly help you enjoy your trip as much as possible. And after years of frequent travel, I’ve picked up quite a few tidbits that really help travel be as amazing as possible. So for the year ahead, here is my best travel advice for 2017!

If you arrive late at night – order room service instead of going out. Even though you might pay a little more, unless it’s super convenient to get food near your hotel, it’s often the best option to put on your PJ’s and order room service, then get to bed!

If you are going to a country that might not have breakfast available easily, include it in your hotel. Research your destination beforehand and find out what sort of breakfasts will be available and then decide whether to add breakfast to your reservation or not. For countries like China where Western breakfast is hard to find outside of hotels, it’s well worth including it in your room price.

If you are going to a country that is world renowned for breakfast or pastries – don’t include it and go out. The opposite of the above point, if you’re headed to a country like France where breakfast and pastries are incredible – don’t waste breakfast at the hotel. Head out and get a taste of the amazing local food.

For red-eye long hauls – when you get in your seat, take off your makeup with makeup removing wipes. Then moisturize and leave make up off for the whole flight. Refresh skin every couple hours with Evian spray. This will make a huge difference for your skin when you arrive at your destination. I do this on any red-eye flight and then put light makeup on again about an hour before landing.

Always ask about an upgrade at hotels. More often than not, they can offer you something. Even if you think they’ll say no, it’s still worth asking. You never know.

Learn a few words in the local language – it’s appreciated more than you know by locals. We’ve found all over the world that the littlest attempt at speaking some of the local language will win you favor with locals. Even if it’s just a slight smile, it lets them know you respect their country and you’re willing to learn.

Invest in Global Entry and TSA Precheck immediately. We did this when it first started almost 5 years ago and it’s been the single most important travel investment we’ve made since then. The time it saves in airports is worth it alone, let alone the effort it saves is totally worth it!

Buy a luggage scale and weigh your luggage at home before going to the airport. This was something that was a game changer for us. Buy a small luggage scale to use at home so you know how heavy your luggage is before getting to the airport and they tell you its overweight. This way you can rearrange if you need before you get to the crowded airport – much less stressful than opening up your suitcase in line at check in and having to take stuff out as everyone watches!

Travel How You Want to Travel (Not How You’re Told To)

February 2, 2017

Over the years of frequent travel, I’ve heard it all from people about our trips. I’ve heard “I don’t get why you only spend such short amount of times in places” and “you guys are crazy for packing so many destinations into one trip” and “you travel too much!” People always seem to tell us that we’re traveling either right or wrong, or that because we might travel differently than someone else, it’s just not the right way to do it. But here’s the thing I hope to impart to each and every person wanting to travel: there is no right or wrong way to travel! Everyone has a different way of seeing a destination or traveling how they want, everyone will do it differently and that’s the beauty of travel.

We tend to travel quickly and we don’t mind jumping on a plane just to spend a couple days somewhere but we also travel more deeply than most. I do a lot of research before hand and we see what we want, delve deep into a place and don’t waste time on what we don’t care about seeing. I also feel really deeply in general, which translates when we travel into really getting to know the “soul” of a place if you will. All of which is to say, our personalities work with how we travel – others might not and that’s totally ok.

The important thing is to travel how you want to travel, not how others might tell you to. Take advice, take lessons and then do it your way. Travel is about the experience, it’s about how you experience a place, no one else. Travel is only productive if it’s worthwhile for you, so do it your way and have the trip of a lifetime.

Travel Tips : Making the Most of Alaska Airlines Partners

January 31, 2017

One of the ways we’re able to travel as much as we do is because we take full advantage of airline miles and points. Over the years of traveling, we’ve become experts on how to save money and use points and miles instead of cash when it comes to travel bookings. I’ve done multiple posts over the years on my favorite mileage plans and points programs, but perhaps at the top of that list is the Alaska Airlines mileage program. Living in the Pacific North West, Alaska is our main airline here and when we started traveling a lot years ago, we realized we needed to pick one airline and stock up all our points with them to really be able to take advantage of their points program and earn elite status. Now, we fly only Alaska domestically and we try to fly their partners abroad to make the most of the program and rack up as many miles as we can. In my opinion, the Alaska Airlines mileage program is still one of the best out there and you can fly all over the world with their points with very little out of pocket. Here’s how you can be making the most of Alaska Air’s partner airlines and travel all over the world for very little money!

Iceland

Iceland is big on everyone’s radar right now and for good reason – it’s one of my favorite places in the world and beyond breathtaking. And while there are a lot of great ways to get to Iceland (like WOW’s $99 one way flights), Iceland Air is still my choice to get from the Pacific North West to the newest “it spot” on the planet. And with Alaska Airlines and Iceland Air being partners, it’s easier than ever (and cheaper than ever) to get there using points and miles.

Fly to Iceland for only 50,000 miles and $200 roundtrip on Iceland Air using Alaska Airlines miles.

Peru

Last year we flew to Peru on LAN, which has since changed to LATAM Airlines and loved taking advantage of this great partnership with Alaska Airlines. We flew the LAX to Lima route on the airline’s Dreamliner and had a fantastic experience. You can book mileage tickets through Alaska Airlines’ website or book through LATAM, pay for your ticket, and rack up the Alaska miles!

France

France, only one of my favorite destinations on the planet, is so accessible using Alaska Air miles! As a partner of Air France, it’s super easy to get to Paris from the West Coast using miles. We also really like to fly Air France on intra-Europe flights and you can use miles or pay for those as well and book the miles with Alaska.

Fly from San Francisco to Paris for only 32,500 miles one way + $95 on Air France using Alaska Airlines miles.

China

Last November we headed to China and while there are lots of ways to get to China, we wanted to fly into Beijing which is where we were based during our time there. Upon some research, I found out that Hainan Air is a partner of Alaska and while I hadn’t heard of the airline previously, they run a direct flight from Seattle to Beijing which worked perfectly with our schedule. We actually paid for our ticket because it was so inexpensive and earned Alaska miles on the deal. We loved the airline and we actually got priority boarding and other extras because of their Alaska Airlines partnership!

The Truth About Traveling : Easy Travel is Rewarding Too

January 30, 2017

As our 2017 is filling up with travel destinations and I’m looking through bookings and plans ahead, I realized that this year (without really even realizing it), we will be doing more “easy” travel. And while travel isn’t ever really “easy,” we chose a lot of destinations for 2017 that we’re familiar with. Some are closer to home like our Yellowstone road trip, some are to places we have visited before and love like Paris and Amsterdam and Iceland, and even the places that we’re visiting for the first time are all in places we’re comfortable with and will be easy to navigate like Austria and Scandinavia and Provence.

I guess what I’m looking at is that just because we might choose destinations that aren’t super exotic or that take a long time to travel to, doesn’t mean that that type of travel is any less fulfilling. Easy travel is rewarding too and sometimes just what you might need. We had a really big year of travel last year that included a lot of trips that required a lot of planning and pushing outside our comfort zone, which is wonderful, but sometimes after a year like that I find myself craving more of the “easy” types of travel, places that we’re more familiar with or that don’t require so much prep.

The moral of the story : all types of travel are fulfilling and rewarding. The destination doesn’t have to be Machu Picchu or the Great Wall of China to make a mark on your life. And while those destinations are for sure worthwhile and often life-changing, sometimes a year of easier travel can do wonders for our souls too.

Snow Drifts + Freezing Temps : Winter in Portland

January 26, 2017

While I spend the majority of time talking here on Land of Marvels about all the places we travel to, sometimes it’s worthwhile shining a light on my amazing home city of Portland, Oregon. I might be bias, but I’ve got to say, my home city is pretty incredible for lots of different reasons and I would recommend visiting it year round.

However, this year we’ve had quite the Winter here recently including many snow storms (which are usually quite rare) and a lot less rain than normal. So a couple weeks ago when we got hit with a huge blizzard and racked up a foot of snow in downtown Portland, Nick and I took full advantage of the crazy Winter weather and went out to explore like tourists in our own hometown! We also got to play with our new drone a bit (which I can’t wait to start sharing more in video format with!) and take in the snowy city in our hometown. So for your Winter Wonderland wishes… here is (a pretty snowy) Winter in Portland!

Headed to my home town of Portland?

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What to Wear in Asia in Winter

January 24, 2017

More What to Wear posts for more destinations here!

When I was packing for our trip through China and Japan in November, I envisioned lots of bright colors in both countries in the street scenes, so I wanted to keep my outfits somewhat neutral so as not to distract in photos and while venturing around. It was also super cold in both locations with temperatures in the low 30’s F in each place, so it was vital that I had warm clothes too. And we packed all carry-on only, so I couldn’t take a lot of thick items either – all in all though, I had more than enough outfits for our 8 day trip!

What I Wore:

Outfit Details:

Gap faux fur Lined Coat (similar) | Madewell Scarf (similar) | Old Navy Yellow Denim (similar) | Gloves |

White Knit Beret | Dooney and Bourke Cross Body Purse | Boots

Outfit Details:

Gap faux fur Lined Coat (similar) | Zara Scarf (similar) | Madewell Dark Denim | Gloves |

Ear Muffs | Dooney and Bourke Cross Body Purse | Boots

Outfit Details:

Leggings | White Converse Low Tops | White Long Sleeve T-shirt |

Gap faux fur Lined Coat (similar) | Old Tumi Luggage (similar)

Outfit Details:

Gap faux fur Lined Coat (similar) | Madewell Dark Denim | Gloves |

Dooney and Bourke Cross Body Purse | Boots

Outfit Details:

Old Zara Coat (similar) | Madewell Dark Denim | Boots |

White Knit Beret | Gloves | Dooney and Bourke Cross Body Purse

Headed to Asia?

See all of our posts on China and Japan!

Exploring Senso-Ji and Asakusa : Temples + Tiny Alleys

January 23, 2017

On our final full day in Tokyo, we headed to the Asakusa area of Tokyo where the famous Senso-Ji Temple is located and it turned out to be one of my very favorite areas of the whole city. The vibe here is much more laid back and it’s an “older” area of Tokyo, without tons of skyscrapers and consists more of smaller restaurants and shops. This area also has lots of souvenir shops for all your shopping needs and is really charming.

If you are headed here just for the Senso-Ji Temple – go early! This place gets insanely busy really fast and gets a little claustrophobic. Even on a freezing cold (but beautiful blue sky) day like we visited on, it was crazy!

Headed to Japan?

See all my posts on the country!

A Magical Morning at the Rikugi-en Garden : Autumn Leaves + Rare Snow

January 20, 2017

A couple days into our time in Tokyo, the weather got really cold and snow was forecasted for a day we were originally going to take a train to another area of Japan for a day trip. When we woke up that day and saw the snow was indeed falling and the trains were all delayed, we opted instead to have a quiet day and enjoy the snow. I read somewhere that day that snow hasn’t fallen that early (in November) in the year in Tokyo since something like 1962, so it was really rare that we got snow in Tokyo while there. It was still a pretty wet snow so it wasn’t sticking in the city itself, but we thought we might get more of it if we headed to the Rikugi-en Garden – and we were right!

Once we arrived at this incredible city garden and park, it was magical! Snow was sticking, the Fall colors and Autumn leaves still vibrant in shades of color and the park was quiet as not many people wanted to venture out in the weather. The day ended up being one my favorites of our trip and this spot was absolutely gorgeous!

Headed to Japan?

See all my posts on the country!

Watching the Famous Shibuya Crossing : Where Thousands of People Cross the Street

January 19, 2017

After our stop in Shinjuku, we jumped back on the subway and headed to Shibuya for a sight of the famous Shibuya Crossing. This famous crossing in Tokyo is at a busy intersection right near the subway station here and since it’s so busy, the traffic lights all turn to red for cars and pedestrians have a couple minutes to cross from all directions! It’s pretty insane to watch and be a part of and not to be missed while in Tokyo!

The best view of the crossing happens to be from the Starbucks on the corner of the crossing, which has a second story sitting area with amazing views down over the Shibuya Crossing. It stays super busy though, so be sure to have time to wait for a spot to watch the crossing from above. We didn’t get many photos of the crossing, since you have to see it in movement to really get the full effect – so I have a little compilation of our time-lapses of the crossing for you to see if with your own eyes too!

Headed to Japan?

See all my posts on the country!

#BloggingDesk : Dealing with Blogging Bullsh*t

My Best Travel Advice for 2017

Travel How You Want to Travel (Not How You’re Told To)